Ice Princess
by xxXXxxBlackRosexxXXxx
Summary: NOTE: THIS STORY WILL BE CONTINUED BY A FRIEND OF MINE. Reborn hires a mercenary to become the 'Snow Guardian'. That mercenary just happens to be a 13 year-old girl though!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Hello people! This is my first fanfiction so, feel free to comment and review. Uhhh, my grammar isn't that good so, please try to tolerate it. Uhhh, the "_"'s stand for a jump in time. Err…that's about it. Enjoy!

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I only own my OC.<p>

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><p>"HEY YOU!" shouts a guy from behind me. I turn around and sigh. <em>Great, the meathead's here.<em>

"What do you want?" I ask, expecting a stupid answer.

"Word is that you're leaving the school, what's up with that? Not good enough to keep up?"

"Yeah, sure. If I comprehended things at your pace," I respond, feeling bored.

His face shows signs of confusion. Most likely, he didn't expect me to react that way. "You have a lot of confidence to say that. Don't worry though, I'm going to crush that," he responds, cracking his knuckles.

"I'm bored. Provide some sort of entertainment will you?" I ask as I form an illusionary knife in my hand. He flinches again, but then he recovers and comes charging at me. I toss the knife and watch it make a direct hit to my target. He stops charging to rub his head because I hit him with the handle of the knife purposely. Quickly, I form seven 'ice' daggers and throw them.

I let out a sigh. "Not good enough. Your entertainment is no good. Good-bye," I say, walking away.

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><p>I am known as the 'Ice Princess' because of the fact that I use 'ice', my real name doesn't really matter. Most people just call me "Kori". I'm currently attending a school for children in the Vongola family only. I don't really need to be here, but it doesn't matter, as the meathead mentioned- I'm leaving soon. As a mercenary I help whoever pays me most, but I help only the groups in the Vongola family. Reborn hired me to attend classes in Namimori with the Tenth Generation Boss, which is odd because I'm only thirteen. I guess that Reborn can always take care of that though.<p>

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><p>I put on the uniform that was sent to me. As I glance in the mirror, I realize that my relatively long black hair will need a trim soon. On to more important things, my mission is still unknown to me. It shouldn't matter though. I'm getting paid so I don't really care much. As long as I have orders, I'll follow them. As for now, I'll wander about and let fate handle everything.<p>

I continue walking down the main hallway to look for the main office. Then, I hear someone, I look to the source of the sound- it's Vongola the Tenth and his Storm and Rain Guardians. _Hm, fate was kind…I didn't spend too much time wandering._ I walk up to them. "Pardon me, but can you please show me where the main office is?" I ask politely.

"Ehh? Who are you?" asks the brown haired boy, who according to the information I received, is the Tenth.

"Who are you to talk to the Tenth?" shouts the silver haired one. Due to his attitude, I will assume that he's the Storm Guardian. I realize that I have to look up at him.

"Well, I-," I start.

"There's no need to be so rude to the Ice Princess," interrupts Reborn.

"EHH?!'Ice Princess'?" asks the Tenth.

"That's correct," responds Reborn.

"Hey kid, who is she?" asks a tan, dark haired boy whom I believe is the Rain Guardian.

"She is your Snow Guardian, Tsuna," explains Reborn.

"S-Snow Guardian?"

"Correct, the Snow Guardian," Reborn repeats.

"Huh?" asks the Rain Guardian.

"No loitering in the halls," says another male, he seems to be carrying tonfas.

"Ciaossu, Hibari," says Reborn

"Oh, it's you," responds the one I soon recognize as the Cloud Guardian.

"Good timing, Hibari. I want you to allow the Ice Princess to join the Disciplinary Committee," says Reborn. I raise my right eyebrow, shooting a questioning look at Reborn. I know he notices this, but he ignores it.

"The Disciplinary Committee cannot accept herbivores," says Hibari, scowling.

"I'll fight you," says Reborn, tempting Hibari.

"If you want _her_ to join, then I want to fight her," says Hibari, pointing at me.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Hello, if any of you are re-reading this, you'll noticed that I canged it to "Snow Guardian". Oh, to clarify, Kori uses illusions.

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Katekyo Hitman Reborn characters; I only own the main character of this story.<p>

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><p>"Reborn! Don't you think that thi-" starts the Vongola Boss.<p>

"It's fine, don't worry," I cut in.

"Hey don't talk to the Ten-" starts Gokudera, but a look from Reborn shuts him up.

"I will bite you to death," declares Hibari. _Finally, a fight that actually looks like it'll be fun. _

I summon my 'kinves'. Then, I mess around with the surroundings, making it seem as though the surrounding area is breaking apart and getting sucked into a black hole. However, this only slows him down a bit. Next, I change his tonfas into bubble wands. Since some part of him actually believes that they are bubble wands, his attacks are now rendered useless. Unfortunately, I forgot about hand to hand combat and I receive several rapid kicks. I cough up some blood and continue to mess with reality. Now, even motor skills are messed with. He tries to kick me again, but ends up turning around. Now, I relax and pop some bubbles drifting around, waiting for victory.

"Fine, she can join," grumbles Hibari.

"Ice Princess, make the illusions go away," commands Reborn.

"Sure." I shrug. I make his tonfas go back to normal and the surroundings go back to normal as well.

Hibari glares at me. "Come with me," he pauses, unsure of how to address me.

"My name is Saito, Miyuki," I say. He nods and leads me to the room labeled 'Discipline Committee'. When we get inside, there's another male in there with ridiculous looking hair.

"Vice Chairman, this is a new member for the committee, tell her what she needs to know. I'm going to take a nap," orders Hibari, laying down on one of the couches. The Vice Chairman leads me outside and then closes the door quietly.

"I am the Vice Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, but most people call me Kusakabe. You are?" he says, introducing himself.

"I am Saito, Miyuki. However, many people call me Kori, Kusakabe-san."

"There's no need to be so formal,"

"That may be so, however, that doesn't change the fact that I am only thirteen."

"A _thirteen year-old girl_ beat Hibari-san?" he gasps.

"It wasn't a complete victory…" I mutter.

"Anyways, if you haven't noticed yet, the Disciplinary Committee members have…"

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><p>"Ok, I've explained the basic dressing rules to, I'll explain the other rules to you some other time. I'll bring you to your class and introduce you to them,"<p>

"Actually, I will do that, Vice Chairman," says Hibari, stepping outside.

"Yes, sir!" says Kusakabe.

"Come with me Saito, Miyuki."

"Roger that."

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><p>When we arrive at the classroom, Hibari walks to the front of the classroom and I follow. The whole room is silent, even the teacher stops talking. "This is Saito, Miyuki. She is in the Disciplinary Committee so, treat her with respect," demands Hibari, then he leaves.<p>

"This is our new student; she transferred here from Italy like Gokudera. Why don't you introduce yourself?" suggests the teacher, eyeing the 'Discipline Committee' armband that I'm supposed to wear every school day.

I nod. "Hello," I bow and continue, "My name is Saito, Miyuki, but I'd prefer that you address me Kori. I'm only thirteen…Anyways, it's a pleasure to meet you all." I bow again.

"I see… you must be pretty advanced in order to skip a grade. Anyways, why don't you go sit next to Yamamoto," says the teacher pointing to the Rain Guardian. I nod and walk to the back of the classroom and take the empty seat next to Yamamoto.

The teacher continues his lecture, "So when x=2+3…"


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Hello! I disappeared for a while, but I'm back. This chapter is pretty long….Anyways, everything is going to be re-written so…

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><p>Disclaimer: Kori: This thing that claims to be a writer does not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

Author: "Thing"?

Kori: That's right.

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><p>I sit in class looking out of the window as most of the class takes notes. "Saito! Play attention. What is the answer to number five?" asks the teacher.<p>

I glance at the question. "X is equal to five…"

"J-Just pay attention next time," mutters the teacher.

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><p>I yawn as classes finally ends. "Hey! Woman!" exclaims Gokudera.<p>

"Yes…?" I ask, looking at him blankly.

"Quit shaming the Tenth by not paying attention in class!" he shouts.

"…You do that too, self-proclaimed 'right-hand man'," I reply.

"Says the mercenary! Can we even trust this woman?" asks Gokudera.

"…What does my occupation have to do with not paying attention in class?" I ask, raising my right eyebrow. Then I add, "All you did was change the topic. Is it because you know you that you can't win that argument?"

"Ciaossu," greets Reborn as he walks out of the wall. "The Ice Princess is actually a very good mercenary. If you pay her the amount of money that she thinks that your request is worth then she follows all orders to the best of her ability. Also, if she were to receive a request from the Varia right now, for example, and it went against my request or would cause harm to you guys, she would reject it no matter how much they offer her," says Reborn.

"I will, however, take side requests that don't conflict with Reborn's. I will let you know of these beforehand though," I say. "Well, if that's all that you have left to say- I'll be heading back to your household, Tsuna-san," I announce.

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><p>I walk into Tsuna's room to see a familiar looking person. "Hm? There's a racket going on in here…" I say.<p>

"Ice Princess-sama! It's a pleasure to meet you!" exclaims the man in a UFO looking thing.

"Hm…Ah...Um...Who are you...?" I ask.

He looks a bit upset. "I'm Giannini," he starts.

"Oh! You're an expert at weapon upgrading…I would make use of this opportunity however, I rely solely on illusions…Sorry," I reply.

"Don't worry," he replies happily.

"I'm glad to hear that," I say, looking at the various weapons around the room.

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><p>I listen in as people talk about their dreams for the future from elementary school.<p>

"What was your dream in elementary school?" asks Sasagawa.

"Hm? Me? I didn't write an essay when I was that age. I remember my dream for the future though," I reply.

"Eh? So what was it?" asks Miura.

"To grow strong enough to eradicate something that I hated from the bottom of my heart," I say.

"…Sounds really serious…" mutters Sasagawa.

"That's kinda scary…" mumbles Tsuna.

I let out a sigh. "Of course, I can never achieve that goal. Someone else already did that the same year I made that goal," I say.

"Ehh? What are you talking about?" asks Tsuna.

"I'm going to get something to drink and continue with tonight's assignment," I reply, ignoring his question.

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><p>I walk downstairs so that I can rendezvous with a client that has a request for me. I look blankly at the mini Gokudera in the living room. "Hm…?" I ask.<p>

"Were you here playing with Lambo-kun?" asks Sasagawa.

"Go away," says Kurokawa, shooing him away.

"Why? He's so cute," says Miura.

"Don't mess with me! I'll blow you away!" exclaims Gokudera, pulling out mini dynamite.

"Wait a second!" exclaims Tsuna, picking up the mini Gokudera.

"Amazing Tenth, you're so strong," comments Gokudera. I chuckle at this. _He hasn't noticed?_

"Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna starts.

"Eh? Gokudera?" asks Kurokawa

"Ah! Uh…Goku- Let's go play upstairs!" exclaims Tsuna.

"What are you doing, Tenth?" asks Gokudera. Then he exclaims, "Tenth! There are suspicious guys on that telephone pole!" My eyes dart to the telephone pole- there's nothing.

"There's no one there," says Tsuna.

"You have homework to do, Tsuna-san. I'll…'play' with him and Lambo," I say, taking the mini Gokudera.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" he exclaims. "Wait, you can't see it?" asks Gokudera.

"Those are sparrows," says Sasagawa.

"Are you mocking me?!" exclaims Gokudera. His arms shake up and down in anger. I resist the urge to toss Gokudera at the wall just because I can.

"Wait-" says Tsuna, trying to stop the enraged Gokudera.

"I'll blow you away!" continues Gokudera. Sighing, I reinforce my hold on him and stop him from attempting to blow anyone up.

"It's bad for someone so small to get so angry. You'll probably kill all your brain cells by the end of the day at this rate," I say. Gokudera continues to struggle and trying to convince Tsuna that there are suspicious people around.

"But, there's no one-" starts Tsuna. Then the doorbell rings and Yamamoto.

"Yo!" greets Yamamoto.

"Yamamoto!" exclaims Tsuna. I amuse myself by giving Gokudera a noogie because it's so easy now.

"My old man gave me some stuff, but it's too much for just me. There's enough people at your place, right?" asks Yamamoto.

"Quit it woman!" Gokudera shouts. I pause for a second so that the pain can sink in. "Since you're here, take care of the enemies outside!" Gokudera shouts at Yamamoto.

"Hey, Gokudera. You're here. Good timing, do you want to eat some too?" says Yamamoto. _He didn't notice at all…?_

"Eh? Gokudera-kun?" asks Kyoko.

"T-That's not him, it's his cousin! He's small, isn't he?" says Tsuna.

"Haha! Yeah, now that I take a closer look, you're right! He seems just like Gokudera," replies Yamamoto, taking Gokudera from me.

"Hey, Yamamoto! Let me go!" shouts Gokudera.

"Haha. He's certainly energetic," says Yamamoto as he laughs.

"Why can't I reach him?" mutters Gokudera. _He still doesn't get it? Really…?_

"What's with the little guy?" asks Lambo, coming from upstairs.

"L-Lambo?" asks Tsuna.

"Oh, hello," says Sasagawa.

"Oh, the liony old hag is here too," says Lambo as Kurokawa goes back into the living room. I note that she looks scared.

"Here's your buddy," says Yamamoto, placing Gokudera down.

"Do you want to be Lambo's henchman? For that, your haircut is too lame," says Lambo. I watch as Gokduera gets annoyed and Lambo continues, "Trying to ignore me? I'm scary if you make me mad. I'll smack your head. Smack!"

Gokudera kicks Lambo and shouts, "I don't have time for that!"

Lambo starts to cry. "Henchman! Beat him up for me!"

"Are you talking to me? I told you that I'm not your henchman, but if you want me to beat him up, come find me when you have money," I reply.

"Like _you_ could do _that_!" retorts Gokudera. I ignore him.

"There, there, don't cry," says Sasagawa as she picks up Lambo.

"Hey, Kyoko!" shouts the Sun Guardian from outside.

"Onii-chan?"

"Yo, Sawada!" says the Sun Guardian as he comes in, leaving the door open.

"What's the matter?" asks Sasagawa.

"I was in the middle of training, but I heard your voice," replies the Sun Guardian.

"Why did you let the enemies in you turf head?!" shouts Gokudera.

"What was that, Gokudera?!" replies the Sun Guardian. _He didn't notice either? How's that possible?_

"No, this is Gokudera-kun's cousin," says Sasagawa.

"Oh, I see," says the Sun Guardian, picking up the furious Gokudera.

"You! You can't see them?!" Gokudera asks angrily. _I look around, I sense a murderous intent, but I can't seem to find it._

"Don't kick those little legs at me!" shouts the Sun Guardian.

"Little? What are you saying?" questions Gokudera. Then he finally sees his legs. "My legs are little! And what's with this chubbiness?" Gokudera starts to pull on his cheeks. _He just noticed?_ I walk over to him and stretch his cheeks out, marveling at the stretchiness.

"Quit doing that!" he shouts. Although I'm really tempted to continue, I stop.

"C-Calm down, Gokudera-kun," says Tsuna. Gokudera falls to the floor as if he's going to faint. _That murderous intent is getting stronger…Where is it…? _I look around the room again.

"Be careful, Tenth!" exclaims Gokudera, throwing dynamite at Tsuna._ Huh? The murderous intent faltered! It should be around Tsuna then. _It explodes and confetti and doves fly out. _It's back now…It has to be coming from nearby Tsuna. I can't attack it if I can't see it though…_"Let me go! Tenth! They're right there!" shouts Gokudera.

"What are you talking about?" asks the Sun Guardian. Gokudera knocks his head into the Sun Guardian's nose and stands on the floor.

"Why did you do that?!" asks the Sun Guardian.

"Turf head! Can you land your wussy punches on me?" taunts Gokudera.

"Gokudera-kun? What are you saying?" asks Tsuna.

"Now you've done it! My extreme punch, no holding back!" shouts the Sun Guardian.

"I'm over here!" shouts Gokudera, running onto Tsuna's shoulder. As the punch actually makes contact with something, my eyes widen.

"What?" asks the Sun Guardian. A figure shows up faintly on the floor and then disappears again. I throw a row of my illusionary knives at it and sigh as it doesn't make contact. I make the knives disappear. _Did I miss?_

"W-What was that just now?" asks Tsuna.

"Yamamoto, let's play catch!" shouts Gokudera, jumping onto Tsuna's shoulder again after giving Yamamoto a baseball.

"All right!" says Yamamoto, throwing the ball like a pitcher at Gokudera. Gokduera and Tsuna dodge, but it still makes contact with something in front of the wall. I look at the ground and see two figures in a pile on the ground. I look at them, they're in odd green suits.

"W-Who are these people?!" exclaims Tsuna. Kyoko screams.

"What are these?" asks Kurokawa.

"It's mysterious…" says Miura.

"You can see us?" asks the shorter person.

"The invisibility suits were damaged!" exclaims the taller male.

"Good work, Gokudera. I'll have to re-evaluate you," says Reborn.

"Reborn!" exclaims Tsuna.

"Rebron-san!" says Gokudera.

The taller male in the suit says, "The Vongola Hitman Reborn!"

"You were the one's clinging to that telephone pole," says Reborn.

"How did he know?" asks the taller male, seeming shocked.

"The invisibility suits were supposed to be perfect!" exclaims the shorter one.

"Seems like little guys can see them," comments Reborn.

"They were probably designed so that children could see them," suggest Giannini.

"Another weird one!" exclaims Kurokawa.

"What's that?" asks Yamamoto.

"Neat!" says Kyoko.

"Your boss is one of the Arcobaleno, the one with the green pacifier, Verde, right? He was doing research to become invisible after all," says Reborn.

"So you knew!" says the shorter one.

"And even Verde has a chance of being betrayed by his henchmen if he can't see them. They must be constructed so that people under a certain age can see them," explains Reborn.

"I see!" replies the shorter one.

'The assassination failed," says the taller on.

"Assassination?" asks Tsuna, looking shocked.

"Now that this has happened…Let's kill him directly!" they announce.

"I don't believe it! Help me, Reborn!" shouts Tsuna.

"I can't fight. I can't use my weapons. See? They Dying Will Bullet is dancing," says Reborn, holding out the dancing bullet.

"N-No!" exclaims Tsuna.

"It's over, Vongola the Tenth!" they shout. Gokudera gets knock away and Yamamoto and the Sun Guardian are in a net. I throw my illusionary knives at them.

"Haha, we know they're illusions!" laughs one of them.

"Oh, really? They're illusions?" I ask. This confuses them and they doubt that it's an illusion just a little bit. The knives cut them a bit. I get trapped in a net too.

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><p>I had fun helping to beat them up later after I got freed from the net by Basil though. Yes, it's very interesting here… I let out a sigh before I go to sleep. <em>Oh shoot! I forgot about my client! No! My money!<em>


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: I completely forgot…I created a poll on pairing my OC with someone…Please vote.

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

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><p>I walk back 'home' after school ends to be greeted by a man in an orange jumpsuit. "Welcome home…Wait, you're not Tsuna," he says.<p>

"Um, yes… That's right," I reply._ Hmm…orange jumpsuit...pick axe…_ "You're Tsuna-san's father, right? The boss of CEDEF?" I ask.

"Yes, that's right...and you are…?" he asks.

"Saito, Miyuki…More commonly known as the 'Ice Princess' or 'Kori'," I say.

"'Ice Princess'? Ah, the mercenary that was a former test subject of the Estraneo family?" he replies.

I cringe slightly and then nod. "Reborn-san hired me to be Snow Guardian," I explain.

"I see…Here you go then," he says, passing me a ring.

"Hm? It's a complete ring…not a half ring," I say.

"That's right. You have no competition," he says.

"I see…I have one more question…You don't seem to have just arrived here, meaning that you have been here for a while. How is it that I just met you now?" I ask.

"Ah, timing must have been bad…I've been asleep a lot of the time," he replies.

"I-I see," I reply, feeling awkward.

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><p>I look up from my homework as Tsuna and Reborn come in. "Can I help you?" I ask.<p>

"Help us find Lambo please!" says Tsuna.

"…Sure. Oh, by the way, Reborn-san, I received the ring…It seems that I won't be fighting anyone because I have the whole ring…" I say.

"There may be a trial though. Be careful," warns Reborn.

"Okay," I reply.

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><p>I run around the park area looking for Lambo. I was told that he should be with Fuuta and I-Pin. I let out a sigh as I don't see them there. I keep running and look somewhere else. I hear Fuuta screaming somewhere nearby and start to run in that direction. When I finally make it there, things are already taken care of. "Oh, how depressing…I missed out on being able to use my real illusions," I mutter. I tense up as the leader of the group comes out.<p>

"Did you do this? Who holds the Lightning Ring? Is it that curly haired brat?" he asks.

"I-It's not. T-This is a misunderstanding!" exclaims Sawada, waving his hands.

"If you get in the way, I'll kill you," says the man, reaching for his weapons.

"Hold on, Levi," says a blonde male, as he lands on the ground by the other man. A bulky looking male lands next to the blonde. Then more males come.

"You can't hunt them by yourself," says a male with green hair and sunglasses.

"Share the prey…Shishishi," says the blonde. The bulky man snorts.

"The situation has changed. The other Guardians of the Rings are here," says the baby.

"S-So many…?" says Tsuna.

"Voooi! How dare you trick me, you trash," says the long haired male.

"He's here!" shouts Tsuna. Gokudera and Yamamoto look on edge.

"Vooi! Which one of you has the Rain Ring?" asks the long haired male.

"I do," says Yamamoto, sounding serious.

"So, it's you? Three seconds. I'll cut you to pieces in three seconds," replies the long haired male, holding out his sword.

"Ahhh! Not good, it's not good!" shouts Tsuna, panicking.

"Out of the way," says another male.

"He's here. I thought I'd never see him again. Xanxus," says Reborn. I tremble slightly as I look at him. _How fearful..._

"Sawada, Tsunayoshi," says Xanxus, a flame emitting from his hand.

"Boss. Are you going to use that so soon? Here?" asks the green haired male, sounding a bit panicked.

"Are you going to get us too?!" exclaims the long haired male.

"This is dangerous. Run!" commands Reborn. I feel too stiff to do that.

"Die!" says Xanxus. My eyes widen as a pick axe lands in front of Xanxus, causing him to stop.

"Hold on, Xanxus," says a commanding voice. I look towards the source of the voice and see Tsuna's father. "That's enough. I'll take charge from here."

"D-Dad?" asks Tsuna.

"The Tenth's father?!" asks Gokudera, looking surprised.

"Iemitsu," says Xanxus.

"Why are you here?!" shouts the long haired male.

"Xanxus, your subordinates are going to point their swords at the External Advisor?" asks Tsuna's father.

"D-Dad, what are you talking about?" asks Tsuna.

"T-Their blood thirst is amazing…" comments Gokudera.

"Don't stick your nose in so late, Iemitsu! All you do is run around, you coward!" shouts the long haired male.

"What was that?!" exclaims Basil, holding out his weapon.

"Hold on Basil," say Tsuna's father. "I wasn't running. I was waiting on a response from the Ninth. I've been having issues with your conduct and the Ninth's approval of it. I sent a letter to the Ninth with my doubts and questions, and this is his answer. This is a direct order from the Ninth."

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><p>After the letter is read, Tsuna's father declares, "Thus, we will begin the decisive battle to decide on who will be the official successor, through a method we can all agree on. This is what it means. Vongola successor candidate, Sawada, Tsunayoshi! Also, successor candidate, Xanxus! The Vongola Rings that you both require to become the true successor…To decide who has the right to these, we will begin the decisive battle to decide between Tsuna's family and the Varia!"<p>

I watch as two women jump from somewhere. "Sorry to keep you waiting," they say at the same time.

"During this ring conflict, we will be the judges," says one of them.

"Eh? Who are they?" asks Tsuna.

"We are the Cervello Organization who serve directly under the Ninth," says the one to my right.

"During the Ring Conflict, our decisions will be the Ninth's," says the one to my left. She holds out a sheet of paper with a Dying Will Flame on it.

"The Ninth that this measure will please all members of the Family. Any objections, Xanxus-sama?" says the one to my right. She pauses and when nothing is said she says, "Thank you very much."

"Wait, I have an objection. Even I, the External Advisor, have never heard of the Cervello Organization. How can I allow you to judge when the future of the Vongola Family is at stake?" says Tsuna's father.

"We cannot recognize your objection. We serve the Ninth and cannot be commanded by the likes of you," says the woman to my left.

"What?" asks Tsuna's father.

"What a shame," says the green haired male.

"Normally, one set of the half Vongola Rings are held by the boss, and the other by the external advisor. And during the announcement of the successor, a completed Ring is given to the chosen seven. However, this time has become an exception. The sets of seven chosen by the two do not match and each handed out Half Rings to whomever they chose. Meaning the seven led by Xanxus-sama, chosen by the Ninth, and the seven led by Tsunayoshi, chosen by the External Advisor, Iemitsu. Now, we'll prove which is more worthy of the Rings by having you bet your lives on them," they explain together.

"Lives?" asks Tsuna.

"The location will be Naminori Middle School, late at night," says the one to my left.

"We will explain the details there. We will be waiting for you at eleven o'clock tomorrow evening. Also, we are aware that Tsunayoshi's side has a Snow Guardian. Please meet us at the school. We will be testing you tonight. Oh yes, come alone," says the woman on my right. I don't allow myself to start to panic. As the women disappear and the Varia go away, I don't say anything.

"Are you okay…?" asks Tsuna. He sounds worried.

"Yes, I'm fine. I will be heading to the school then," I say._ Hmmm…how are they going to test me…? I can't fail though…_


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: Yeah, I didn't have too much of an idea as to how to test her either…So I made up something really stupid.

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

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><p>I yawn as I walk into the classroom. People look at me oddly because I have black gloves, a hat, and a scarf on. I plop down on my desk and start to nod off. "You're okay! Thank goodness!" exclaims Tsuna as he comes into the classroom along with Gokudera and Yamamoto.<p>

I look up at him drowsily. "Ah...yeah. Why are you worried though…?" I mutter, and then then I yawn again. _I'm only someone who got hired…Why does it matter how I am?_

"Why are you dressed that way, mercenary?" asks Gokudera.

I roll my eyes. "_Obviously_, I feel warm right now," I say, my voice drips with sarcasm.

Reborn comes over and jumps on my desk. "Actually, I want to know why too."

I nod. "I went to get 'tested' last night like they asked me to. I don't think that they really had any idea about how to test me though," I start.

"How is that relevant?!" exclaims Gokudera.

I toss a textbook at his head. "Quiet. Let me finish," I command. I glance at him impassively as he starts to rub his head and I ignore his shouted curses. Tsuna looks a bit shocked that either Gokudera survived or that I threw a textbook at Gokudera's head. Yamamoto seems to think that it's amusing. "Basically, they locked me in the freezer room in the cafeteria for all of last night. I think they said it was to test to see if I could withstand isolation in an area with extreme conditions or something…Actually, I'm not sure that temperatures a little below freezing point would even count as 'extreme', but…" I mutter.

"That's it?" asks Reborn. The others look a bit shocked and/or surprised.

I nod. "They told me that I could warm myself by any means that I had in there," I mutter. Then I yawn and continue, "I was going to use illusionary clothes or fire, but I was too tired and I feel asleep. I woke up about an hour ago, feeling really cold and stiff, and found that they unlocked the door. So I left, went back 'home', and came back here. I won't be surprised if I get sick, I was shivering until around five minutes ago."

"Will all the trials be like that?" asks Tsuna.

"I doubt that…There was no one for me to fight against so, I guess that makes a difference since you're supposed to bet your lives on the Rings," I reply. Tsuna seems to get even more panicked. _Whoops, guess I shouldn't have said anything…_While Yamamoto and Gokudera attempt to calm down Tsuna, I get a call from someone. _A client…?_ I don't recognize the number, but I pick up either way.

"This is Mammon from the Varia. Come to the park. I have an offer from the boss for you," says a baby-like voice on the other end the second I pick up. Then, the line goes dead. I feel a bit worried and scared.

I pick up my bag and stand up. "I'm going 'home', I can't stand this anymore. I'm going to sleep," I say. Then I add, "Could you let Sensei know that I'm sick?" Then I walk out of the classroom a little too quickly. I hope no one noticed.

* * *

><p>I walk into the park after looking around to make sure that no one is following me. Then, I walk behind the trees and look at the baby in the hood accompanied with a blonde male. <em>Hm, the Varia members…the baby I know is Mammon, but the blonde male is…?<em> "So you decided to come," comments Mammon.

"Peasant, what took you so long? You shouldn't keep the Prince waiting," says the blonde.

I raise my right eyebrow. "I dislike those who talk like that, I'll be on my way now," I reply, happy to have a good reason to leave. I start to walk away. _Hm, he must be Prince the Ripper, the one that joined the Varia at the age of eight._

"…Boss is going to get mad," I hear Mammon say. "You'd better fix this Bel."

"Why should the Prince do something for you?" replies Prince the Ripper.

I hear an exasperated sigh and a dark mutter. "Wait," says Mammon. I pause and turn around with a look of disinterest. "The boss is offering you five times what Reborn is paying you to switch sides and be _our_ Snow Guardian."

"Hm. That's too bad, I don't accept requests that interfere with current ones," I reply. _Actually…I wonder if it would be better for me to accept the request…No, I can't do something like that_…

"You should probably switch sides before that team gets killed. Besides, Boss is very…'persuasive'. He'll find a way to get you to join," warns Mammon.

"Hm, then I'll consider your offer," I reply flatly. _I don't plan on accepting though…I don't like their boss…_I start to walk back "home". I catch a glimpse of someone running away as I walk out from behind the trees though. _Suspicious…Should I follow…?_

* * *

><p>Gokudera runs back to the school as fast as he can and bursts into the classroom. "Reborn, the mercenary is up to something suspicious," he reports as he sits back down at his desk.<p>

Reborn frowns. "What do you mean by 'suspicious'?"

"I saw her talking to some Varia behind some trees in the park. Didn't she say that she was going back the Tenth's house to rest?" he replies.

Reborn looks slightly troubled now. "That does sound somewhat suspicious…."

Then Tsuna and Yamamoto come over. "What is this about her being suspicious?" asks Yamamoto.

"I don't really think that she seems really suspicious, Reborn…" Tsuna starts.

Gokudera jumps in now. "But, Tenth! She was talking to the _Varia_. Don't you find that suspicious? Plus, she's a mercenary! That means that she'll do whatever the person paying her the most says, right?"

"What if she only passed by and the Varia and they went over to her?" suggests Yamamoto.

"Baseball Idiot! What kind of reasoning is that?!" exclaims Gokudera.

Then Tsuna says quietly, "Actually, that sounds more likely…"

"She got a call before she left the classroom though," says Gokudera. Reborn nods in agreement.

"…That sounds kinda suspicious now…" Tsuna says.

Reborn seems to think for a second. Then he says, "Let's see how things play out then. We should stay on guard for the time being."

* * *

><p>I look at Tsuna blankly as he seems to stare at me suspiciously as I eat my dinner. "Hm? Is something wrong?" I ask.<p>

He shakes his head quickly. "N-No," he replies.

"Okay then…" I reply as I look a bit unsurely at him. Then I continue to eat. _Is something going on…? I know that it's the Sun battle later tonight, but…_


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Yay! Next chapter! Thanks for the reviews.

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I walk to the school with Reborn, Tsuna, and Lambo as I do my best to ignore the suspicious glances I keep receiving from Tsuna. Its not that it annoys me, after all for a mercenary allies one day can be enemies the next, it's more like… the feeling is uncomforting. I can almost see Reborn face palming because Tsuna is being to obvious about whatever it is that he's suspicious about. Naturally, they would refuse to say anything if I bothered to ask what they're suspicious of though.<p>

The night air is a bit chilly, but it feels refreshing. I let out a quiet sigh to fill the awkward silence. Suddenly, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I take out my black phone and glance at the number before I pick up. "Hello?" I greet. I get a more intense suspicious glance from Tsuna. _Why do I feel guilty? I haven't done anything wrong!_

"About my request, will you be able to complete it tonight?" asks the woman on the other end.

"No, I'm sorry Miss. I have other requests to complete tonight. Would tomorrow afternoon be okay?" I reply.

"Yes, that will be fine. Thank you." The line goes dead. I put my phone back into my pocket. I look at Tsuna and Reborn blankly as they stare at me. I admit that it's starting to get even more uncomfortable. "Is something the matter?" I ask.

"W-Who were you just talking to?" Tsuna asks a bit warily.

I raise my right eyebrow and reply, "I'm not supposed to tell you, but I will tell you that it was a woman in another country." I pause for a second to think about why he would want to know, and then I add, "I'm going to assume that the next question is going to be what she wanted. I suppose it would be fine to say what she wanted." I take out a photo of a man that she wants dead and show it to Tsuna. "She wants this drug dealer to be killed," I explain as I put the picture back into my pocket. Tsuna looks a bit surprised at this. I continue to look at him blankly, but I choose not to say anything. _So, my loyalty is starting to be doubted…I wonder why?_

As we continue to walk towards the school the awkward silence continues looms around. I start to fiddle with the ring hanging from a chain on my neck. Suddenly, Lambo jumps out of Tsuna's arms and runs off somewhere. "Lambo! Where are you going?!" Tsuna exclaims at the retreating child.

"That stupid cow looks like he's playing hide-and-seek," comments Reborn.

"How did that even come up?" asks Tsuna.

Now, I say, "Sorry to interrupt, but we'll be late if we take too long looking for Lambo. I'll try to catch up to him."

* * *

><p>When we finally reach the school, our pace went from a walking pace to a running pace. "Everyone!" exclaims Tsuna as we reach the school. He runs until he makes it over to them.<p>

"Tenth!"

"You came, Sawada."

"Yo!" As I get closer to the group, I receive a suspicious stare, or glare, from Gokudera. I ignore it and look off to the side as I cross my arms.

"Yamamoto-san. Sasagawa-senpai," I say in greeting.

Tsuna apologizes, "Sorry for being late. Lambo started playing hide-and-seek.

"How dare you trouble the Tenth!" yells Gokudera.

Yamamoto says happily. "But there are some who aren't here yet."

"The Holder of the Mist hasn't shown himself," comments Sasagawa.

"It's so quiet. Was Nami-Middle the right place?" asks Tsuna.

I reply, "It should be. I came here last night…"

"Are they not here yet?" suggests Yamamoto.

Suddenly a Cervello speaks out. "They have been on standby for quite some time." We all look the ledge they are standing on. _How did I not notice that? Shoot, I should pay more attention. _

The other says, "After an official conference, the battle order for the Ring Conflict has been decided."

"The first battle will be between the Sun Guardians."

"Guardian of Sun…" starts Tsuna. "That means…" Sasagawa gets a serious look on his face.

"So my opponent is that boy," says a green-haired man with sunglasses. After thinking about it for a little bit, I realize that he's Lussuria.

"So that's him," Sasagawa says a bit angrily.

One of the Cervello says, "We will now being the Ring Conflict over the position of successor. Please look over there." Both Cervello then point to a thing that looks like a boxing ring.

"What is that?!" exclaims Tsuna.

"A special ring that we prepared for the Sun Guardians," explains one Cervello.

Then the other says, "This time, we have made a ring that benefits the specialties of the Guardians of the Sun. Likewise, we will be setting up a unique combat area for each battle." _So you can set up something like this for the Sun Guardians, but I get the school's freezer for the night…?_

"WHAT?! THAT HUGE THING?!" Tsuna shouts, seeming panicked and surprised.

Prince the Ripper (with the normally present Cheshire-like grin) says, "It cost a pretty penny."

Then Mammon says, "But since who's going to win, it was a waste of money."

"These aren't bad conditions for you, Senpai," Yamamoto says confidently.

"The ring is my territory!" declares Sasagawa.

Tsuna looks scared. "The battle is really about to start." Then he crouches down. "I'm so nervous!" He sees Lambo sleeping and says, "I'm so jealous of you, not knowing what's going on." I bend down and scoop up the sleeping Lambo. His hair makes a good cushion despite all the junk buried in there.

"Is the boss here yet? It's my glorious moment on stage!" Lussuria exclaims happily.

"He seems to be absent," Mammon replies.

"There's no way that a man would be interested in another's fight. Better yet, don't accept this pathetic battle that doesn't really suit us, and let me take them all! I'll cut them apart in five seconds!" declares the long-haired male. _Hm, if not caring about another person's fight is what a man does… wouldn't that make Lambo a man?_ Then he looks over the man with piercings and shouts, "Voi! Why are you glaring at me?!"

"There seems to be someone watching us, Mammon," says Prince the Ripper.

"I know. He's not even a Guardian. I'd like to get a spectator's fee from him," replies Mammon._ Hmm…Now that I think about it, that wouldn't be such a bad idea…_

Then the Cervello announce, "Now, Sun Guardians, please come to the center of the ring."

"I'm gonna go play!" exclaims Sasagawa's opponent. _I guess they aren't really taking this seriously. If I were them, I guess I wouldn't either though…They are elite…but still, I think that Reborn-san would know better. I'm almost sure that Tsuna-san and the others can beat them. _

"We'll be enjoying ourselves, Lussuria," says Mammon.

"Just get it over with!" says the silver-haired male.

Then Sasagawa declares, "I'm going. Leave it to me!"

"Onii-san," Tsuna starts.

Yamamoto then asks in a cheery manner, "Hey, Tsuna, aren't we going to form a circle or something?"

An "Eh?", "Huh?", and an "Um…" all come at the same time from Tsuna, Gokudera, and me as well.

Sasagawa turns around, looking very excited. "That's great! I've always wanted to do that, especially since boxing is an individual sport!" he exclaims.

"EH?!" both Tsuna and Gokudera shout.

"Idiot! I'm not going to do anything so lame!" exclaims Gokudera.

I let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, I agree with you there…"

"I don't want you to agree with me, Mercenary!" he spits back.

I grin at him. "Oh good, then you can join the circle," I say happily. Then Tsuna and Gokudera get grabbed and forced into the circle by Sasagawa. After thinking that I escaped being part of the circle, I too get dragged in by Yamamoto.

"Ryohei! Fight!" shouts Sasagawa. "All right! I feel my extreme power overflowing!" he shouts again before walking off to the battle area.

* * *

><p>After looking at both rings, the Cervello say, "There's no mistaking it. We have confirmed that these are the real Half Vongola Rings. As a rule, the Rings will be hung form your necks."<p>

"Oh, my! Now that I got a closer look, you have a pretty nice body! You're just my type!" exclaims Lussuria. He's…um…wiggling…?

"What?" Sasagawa replies.

Gokudera looks a bit surprised and disturbed. "What did he just say?"

"W-Who knows?" replies Tsuna.

"I-Is he gay…?" I suggest.

Lussuria declares, "I've decided. I'm taking you home."

I nod in confirmation of my suspicion. "Yes, definitely gay…" Tsuna nods in agreement.

"What are you saying?" asks Sasagawa.

Mammon comments, "There aren't many people who can fight back against Lussuria."

"That's an unlucky kid," says the man with piercings.

Sasagawa declares, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just going to fight fair and square!" He gets into a boxing stance.

"That pose must be for boxing. Not very trendy…I, Lussuria, will play with you using the ultimate standing fighting style, Muay Thai," declares Lussuria. What? "Trendy fighting"?

"What?"

Reborn says, "So the Varia's Guardian of Sun is a martial artist, as expected."

"'As expected?" asks Tsuna.

"Looking back trough history, the Sun Guardians always had very powerful fists and legs. Breaking down adversity against the Family with their bodies and becoming the bright sun- these are the duties of the Guardian of the Sun," explains Reborn.

I mutter, "I see…"

"Compared to the beauty of my Muay Thai, boxing is nothing more than a game," says Lussuria.

"You! I won't allow you to mock boxing!" Sawagawa shouts angrily. Lussuria laughs in response.

"The Sun Ring, Lussuria vs. Sasagawa, Ryohei. Battle start!" exclaims the Cervello. Suddenly many bright lights turn on in the stadium and Sasagawa has to shield and close his eyes. Even Reborn, Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and I have to close our eyes and shield them.

"W-What's this? The ring is shining!" exclaims Tsuna.

"The ring was created for the Sun Guardians. It is a solar coliseum created by a faux sun," explains one of the Cervello.

"What is this? I can't see a thing!" exclaims Tsuna.

"I'll loan you my sunglasses," replies Reborn. He and Yamamoto are already wearing sunglasses. I create my own pair with my illusions. As Sasagawa struggles, he gets kneed by Lussuria.

"The person from the Varia is wearing sunglasses, so he can act freely! He can't put up a fight! Give Onii-san a pair of sunglasses too!" exclaims Tsuna.

The Cervello replies, "We cannot allow contact with the Guardian in combat. If you do that, he will loose, and we will take the Ring."

"That's…" starts Tsuna.

"That's dirty!" shouts Gokudera. _This isn't looking too good…_ Sasagawa starts to punch around, only hitting air. Then he gets hit pretty hard and falls again.

Just when Sasagawa finally lands a hit, Lussuria flies back towards Sasagawa with his left knee. When Sasagawa punches Lussuria's knee, Sasagawa shouts in pain. _He won't be able to use that hand…_

* * *

><p>In a surprising turn of events, Sasagawa suddenly had enough energy to shatter the metal knee. I watch with slight awareness as to what will happen next as Lussuria starts to show fear. He he's shaking badly. Then Lussuria is shot by one of his comrades. I was expecting this, but I still flinch. "Tomorrow night's battle will be Lightning. The battle between the Lightning Guardians," announces the Cervello.<p>

"Lightning is Lambo! Can this guy fight?!" exclaims Tsuna.

"Lambo! Wake up! Lambo!" shouts I-Pin.

Still in my arms, Lambo mutters sleepily, "Lambo-san is sleepy."

"We shall see you tomorrow night," says the Cervello. Then, as they jump away, the stadium blows up. We all crouch down covering our heads.

"Tenth!" shouts Gokudera, covering Tsuna in the process. I grab I-Pin and protect both her and Lambo. I gasp as I feel someone cover me too.

When the smoke clears, Gokudera says, "They're terrible."

I look up and see that Yamamoto was the once that pushed me down. "Thanks," I mutter. He nods.

"I can't believe it," Yamamoto says to Gokudera. _Tomorrow night will be trouble…_

As the others start to leave, I pull Yamamoto aside. I offer him an apologetic smile and say a bit hesitantly, "Um…." I pause. Then I continue again, "I know that there's something going on. Reborn-san, Tsuna-san, and Gokudera seem to…doubt my loyalty. Do you know why?"

"Gokudera saw you talking to the Varia so…" he explains.

I look at him curiously. "Are you suspicious of me too then?" He shakes his head and I grin in response. "Thanks," I mutter._ Weird, I've never cared about whether or not the people I was working with trusted me. So why did I suddenly start to care?_


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: Finally done with this chapter. I feel like I should show more of my OC's character though. Maybe after the Ring Conflict?

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

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><p>I look at the two Varia members blankly as the offer the same reward as before. They return blank looks at me. I start to laugh. "What's so funny?" Prince the Ripper asks. He looks a bit confused.<p>

"You're kidding, right? Sasagawa-senpai _won_ the match and you're choosing _now_ to ask me to join again?" I ask with a smile on my face. Then I shake my head. "Things aren't looking too good for you."

"Aren't you forgetting that tonight is the Lightning battle? Do you really think that the little kid can actually beat Levi?" replies Mammon.

I pause for a moment to consider this point. "Hm," I reply. _I'd better not show any doubt…_ I jump off the tree branch I was sitting on and shake my head. "Either way, I don't plan on switching over."

"You should just feel lucky that we're not annoyed today," comments Prince the Ripper as he shrugs indifferently.

I return an indifferent shrug. "You could kill me if you'd like. Although, I'm pretty sure that your boss wouldn't be too happy. Plus, I've heard that there hasn't been a Snow Guardian candidate in a loooong time. It's highly unlikely that you'd find a replacement, don't you think?" I reply as I tap a finger on my chin in mock thought. I grin at them. "Well then, better luck next time. At least try to make the offer more appealing," I say as I walk off to get to the school. My eyes widen a bit as I realize that I'm late. Then I let out a sigh as I remember that Hibari went somewhere else to train with the Bucking Bronco.

* * *

><p>As I walk into the classroom, I greeted by Gokudera yelling about me talking to the Varia again. "Yo," I greet. Gokudera stops ranting and they all turn to me. "This has gone on for long enough. Normally, I wouldn't care, but I'm working for <em>the<em> Reborn and if junk like this goes around from him, then I'll start to loose clients," I say as I walk over to a desk by their group. After sitting down, I continue, "Yes, I have been talking to the Varia. In particular, I was talking Mammon and Prince the Ripper. Yes, I was offered a reward to switch over. It was Reborn's reward multiplied by five. I'm not going to throw out any numbers, but Reborn's reward is already quite a large sum of money. I can hardly even imagine how the Varia has that kind of money to spend on one person."

"Eh? Reborn, where are you getting the money from?" asks Tsuna.

Reborn smirks. "I have my ways."

"Anyways, this is where Gokudera here guessed wrong. Sure, I talked to them. Yes, I was offered a reward to switch over, but I never accepted it. So I don't understand exactly what I did wrong," I conclude.

Gokudera shouts, "You lied about where you were going the other day though!"

I look at him blankly and then I reply, "Ah…That's right. I'm sorry. It won't happen again, Reborn-san. Tsuna-san."

Tsuna waves his hands around frantically. "You don't have to apologize to me. You didn't do anything in the end so…"

Reborn declares, "I never doubted you for a second."

I smile. "I'm glad that got cleared up." I let my expression turn serious now. "But about tonight… What do you plan on doing about Lambo's fight?"

* * *

><p>As we walk up to the roof, Lambo goes ahead of us happily. "Boots! Booty boots!" exclaims Lambo.<p>

"This doesn't look good," comments Tsuna.

"I wish we could at least switch representatives. The stupid cow doesn't stand a chance," says Gokudera.

"Sure, but who would you replace him with?" I ask.

"You guys were chosen. If you hesitate now, you'll lose your lives," says Reborn from Yamamoto's shoulder.

Tsuna starts, "But…"

Reborn cuts in, "As soon as this battle started, it could no longer be stopped."

Suddenly, there's a flash of lighting from outside. "What was that?" asks Tsuna as we all catch a glimpse of something.

I squint and look at it closely. "Where they…lightning rods?"

"Lightning, shiny, shiny! Rumble, rumble, boom!" shouts Lambo as he rolls around on the floor.

Tsuna opens the door leading to the roof and exclaims, "The roof!"

"What is this?" asks Gokudera.

The two Cervello judging explain, "Tonight's combat area is a lightning rod area appropriate for the Lighting Guardians- the Electric Circuit." As though it was timed, lightning strikes one of the rods and a spider web pattern on the ground lights up.

"Ahh! The floor is shining!" shouts Tsuna.

"Electric wires that easily conduct electricity run along the Electric Circuit," explains one of the Cervello.

Then the other says, "The lightning that hits the lightning rods are enhanced several times and runs through them."

"That's terrible- just standing there would burn you to a crisp," exclaims Tsuna.

Gokudera raises a clenched fist. "They set up this match knowing that there'd be a lightning storm."

"Lambo-san's gonna play on that!" Lambo shouts happily as he runs towards it.

"Wait a second!" says Tsuna as he grabs Lambo. He picks him up. "Lambo, it's dangerous."

"No! I want to play on that!" protests Lambo.

"He thinks it's an amusement park ride…" mutters Tsuna.

Lambo continues to cry, "I want to go rumble, rumble on that!" As he shakes his head around, one of his horns fall off.

"Geez, you dropped your horn again," says Tsuna.

Gokudera scoops it up. "Stupid Cow," he says. As he produces a marker and starts to write on it, he says, "Don't trouble the Tenth." Then he finishes writing. "Now, even if you lose it, someone will bring it back to you!" Gokudera holds up the horn which now says "Stupid Cow" on it. I start to chuckle.

"He really wrote 'stupid' on it!" says Tsuna.

Then the Cervello announces, "Lightning Guardian, please come to the center."

"Your opponent has already been waiting for two hours," says the other.

"T-Two hours?!" asks Tsuna. Lambo blinks owlishly. A flash of lightning reveals where Lambo's opponent is. "T-There he is!"

The other Varia members jump onto the roof and Prince the Ripper comments, "Levi came two hours early again?"

"Unlike you, he's quite awkward in that way," replies Mammon.

"I can't believe it," he replies.

"Hurry up and get it over with," says the silver-haired male.

"Oh Ice Princess, I assume you came to see the results of this battle. Consider the offer again."

Prince the Ripper smiles and comments, "Wow, you're putting a lot of effort into this."

"Yeah, boss paid me extra…" mutters Mammon.

Prince the Ripper chuckles. "No wonder."

"Okay Sawada, let's do the usual!" exclaims Sasagawa as he grabs Tsuna's arm.

"Eh? The usual?" asks Tsuna.

I inch off to the side slowly. "No way! If I have to so this then you do too," declares Gokudera as he drags me along with him.

"Put some spirit into it! Lambo! Fight!" shouts Sasagawa.

"Gwahaha! That was fun! One more time!" Lambo exclaims happily.

"We won't!" exclaims Tsuna.

Lambo starts to fume and he turns around. "Tsuna's stingy, stingy, stingy

"Is he really going to be alright?" asks Yamamoto.

Gokudera comments, "He absolutely doesn't understand what's going on."

Lamob jumps up and yells back, "I understand, idiot!"

"What?!" shouts Gokudera.

Tsuna walks over and crouches by Lambo. "Lambo, listen up. If you don't want to go, you don't have to."_ He seriously cares about his teammates, doesn't he?_

"Tenth…" mutters Gokudera.

"I don't know why Dad decided to pick you, but it's not right that a kid like you has to fight. Lambo, you don't want to die yet, do you?" Tsuna asks.

"Oh? Don't you know? Lambo-san is invincible, so he won't die," Lambo replies arrogantly.

Tsuna shouts. "Listen to me seriously!"

"Bye-bye!" Lambo replies happily.

Tsuna grabs him again. "Wait. Don't use the ten-year-bazooka. Adult Lambo asked not to use it."

"You talk too much!"

"If you're going to go anyway, take these with you." Tsuna holds up a pair of worn-out looking horns.

Lambo crosses his arms. "They look dirty so, I don't want 'em!"

"Just take them!" exclaims Tsuna as he shoves the horns into Lambo's afro.

"Here I go!" says Lambo as he walks off.

"He's so full of energy," comments Yamamoto.

Gokudera crosses his arms. "It's not that. He just doesn't get it."

I look blankly at Lambo as he asks the two Cervello, "Miss, how do you play with this?" _You're kidding…right? He's going to get killed if he thinks that this is all just a game. _"Hey!" Lambo continues to shout.

"That Stupid Cow still thinks that it's amusement park," comments Gokudera.

"The Lightning Ring. Levi A Than versus Lambo. Battle start!"

* * *

><p>I look blankly at the adult form of Lambo.<em> Hm, still not so dependable looking…<em> _Tsuna seems to have faith in him though. I wonder if that'll be enough?_ "Plus, Young Vongola, though I look like this, I am a man that comes through when it matters," says Lambo. He glances at me. "Oh, your older-self owes me money, Kori."

"Oh? That's highly unlikely," I reply as I cross my arms.

"That completely destroyed the mood…" mutters Tsuna. Then he shakes his head as if he ignored the money part and says, "I know. I know! When Haru was in trouble that time…"

Levi commands, "Don't show off more than me."

"That would be impossible. I have what it takes to be a star. Just watch," replies Lambo. _Well, his self-esteem certainly didn't decrease._ Then he pulls out a pair of horns and shouts, "Thunder set!" The lightning strikes Lambo.

"He called down the lightning, bypassing the lightning rods. That's a bit surprising," says Mammon.

Reborn explains, "Holding that much electricity in those horns in only possible because of his physiology."

"Was that technique a high level one?" asks Tsuna.

Gokudera shouts encouragingly, "Do it, Stupid Cow!"

Lambo looks confident. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>I let out a sigh. "Just when I thought that he was no longer a cry-baby…" The others nod.<p>

"Stupid Cow… he actually ran…" mutters Gokudera. We all watch Lambo as he jumps into the ten-year-bazooka again.

"It's child Lambo's ten-year-bazooka!" exclaims Tsuna.

"If the Stupid Cow from ten years in the future uses the ten-year-bazooka again…" starts Gokudera.

"W-What's going to happen…?" asks Tsuna, looking a bit shocked.

Prince the Ripper's grin fades. "What's this over powering sensation? What's going on?" asks Mammon. I can agree with him there. It's definitely kinda scary.

"C-Could it be? The Lambo from twenty years in the future?" asks Tsuna.

The older Lambo looks a little disoriented as he catches the ring. "My, my. This phenomenon… If this isn't a dream, it's been a long time since I've been summoned by the ten-year-bazooka."

"Is that really the Stupid Cow?" asks Gokudera.

Tsuna smiles. "Lambo seems really dependable."

"Hm?" Lambo turns around to look at us. "Meeting you again, it's been such a long time." _All of us? Not just me? Naturally, it's expected that he wouldn't see me for a long time. It was a surprise that I even kept contact with the fifteen-year-old Lambo, but…why is it all of us that he hasn't seen in a long time?_

"Lambo…" starts Tsuna.

"I'd like to cry, but it's no time to be sentimental. That brutish-looking one is glaring at me," says Lambo, referring to Levi.

Levi continues to glare. "It doesn't matter who you are. I will still kill you." _Hopefully, with the Lambo from twenty years into the future, they can win._

* * *

><p>As the battle is declared as loss for Tsuna, the Varia members turn to me. "There, now you've lost the Lightning Ring as well as the Sky Ring. Are you willing to switch over now?" asks Mammon. I feel everyone's eyes on me now.<p>

I smile. "Switch over, you say? Switch over to a group that is willing to kill for the sake of overkilling a win? Haha, as if," I reply "I've decided, I'm staying with this group here. Not because I've gotten attached, but because it's far more amusing here. Killing all your opponents isn't fun at all. It's rather bland if you ask me." I see Reborn smirk.

Mammon sighs. "Fine…" Then the Varia leave. I see Tsuna let out a sigh. _He was worried...?_

* * *

><p>Later on, Reborn approaches me when I'm alone. "You lied to Mammon, didn't you?" he says.<p>

I lean on the chair that I'm sitting on and let out a sigh. "I guess that it's impossible to lie to you, Reborn-san. Yes, I lied. I guess I am getting attached. Ten years into the future, I was still around. So I guess that my future-self reached the same conclusion." I let out another long sigh. "How depressing… What kind of mercenary gets attached to one group? Sure, I only work for those in the Vongola Alliance, but that was for my own benefit. I don't need the Vongola Alliance hunting me down since I know too much…"

"So, what do you plan on doing now?" he asks.

I sit there for a second. "If you'll accept this, I'd like to stick around. I'll continue completing small requests on the side for paying clients, but I'd like to join Tsuna-san's family," I reply finally.

He nods. "Request accepted."


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: Ah, next will probably be the Mist battle…Let's see how Kori's cram session worked.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I hear the sound of the window being pried open. Startled, I jump out of bed and pull out several knives. "Who's there?!" I shout at the dark figure. Two more appear, one on each side of the first figure. I prepare to throw several knives at each of them. Then, I hesitate. "Kufufufu….Do you actually want to attack me?" asks a feminine voice from the figure in the middle.<p>

"The only one that I know of that laughs like that is Mukuro-san, but last time I heard, he's still locked up in Vindice. Could it be that this whole time, he was actually a girl?" I ask.

The feminine voice laughs again. "You never fail to amuse me, but don't be so absurd. You already know why."

I grin and I put my weapons down. "Ah, so it really is you. Guess you possessed a girl this time." I look at the other two figures. "Ken, Chikusa, nice to see you again." They finally take their hoods off to reveal Ken and Chikusa's familiar faces along with and unfamiliar face. I look down at the shorter girl with purple hair with slight curiosity. "Surely you came here because you wanted me to help somehow, Mukuro-san."

"What? Is it wrong of me to visit a dear acquaintance for no reason?"

I laugh. "Of course not, feel free to do so. It's nice to see you guys again, it's been a while. But since I know you, in a situation like this, you wouldn't waste your energy to visit me for no reason," I reply with a smile. I suggest, "Perhaps some other time. Now, what is it that you'd like to request?"

Mukuro smiles and nods. "Yes, maybe some other time. Onto business now, this girl is Chrome Dokuro. I'm starting to weaken, so as my student, I'd like you to teach her for me. I trust that you'll do well." I catch a glimpse of the ring and I immediately understand what's going on. _Tsuna's Mist Guardain…Wow, interesting…_

I nod. "Of course, that'd be fine. I'll try my best. Would tomorrow be okay though? It's getting late."

"That would be fine. Now about your payment…"

I shake my head. "Don't worry about the payment. After all, I'm still in debt to you."

* * *

><p>After dinner, I walk up to Tsuna and Reborn. "Tsuna-san, Reborn-san, I know that tonight is Gokudera's battle, but I have plans to help out an old friend of mine. Is that okay?" I ask.<p>

"Eh? Who are you helping, Kori-chan?" asks Tsuna.

I smile. "Well…I was asked that I keep this a surprise. I'm sure you'll find out in the near future though."

"Huh?"

Reborn nods. "Go ahead, Kori."

"Thank you, Reborn-san," I say to Reborn. Then I turn to Tsuna. "Please wish Gokudera good luck for me."

* * *

><p>I lounge on a couch opposite from Chrome as I tie up my long, black hair. "So, you're Chrome Dokuro. Nice to meet you. I'm Saito, Miyuki, but they call me 'Kori'. I'm assuming that Mukuro-san told you that I'll be teaching you, right?" I ask. She nods. "Good. Now, before we begin, is there anything you'd like to know?"<p>

She looks a bit hesitant, but she finally asks, "How do you know Mukuro-sama?"

I smile a bit. "I was born into the Estraneo Family too. He saved Ken, Chikusa, and I, so I was a member of the group for a while. Occasionally, I still help him since I owe Mukuro-san a lot. Is there anything else?" She shakes her head. "Good, let's begin. Go on. Attack me with your strongest illusion." She nods and then large pillars of fire erupt from the ground.

I sit there for a bit, looking at the quality. Then I neutralize it pretty easily. "You're still a newbie. The power that you're using right now is completely borrowed from Mukruo-san. Although, you have potential, this is going to take a lot of work." I start to mess with our surroundings, and soon, a full on blizzard surrounds us. She lets out a cry of fear as a sharp gust of wind hits her. I shake my head. "Stay strong. Remember that all the illusions that your opponent throws at you, you can change with enough power." _We only have three days at most. How am I supposed to teach everything in three days? To make matters worse, three days is only if I get lucky. It took me several years of training to just become okay. It's taken until last year to make it to where I am now. Even then, I haven't been able to catch up with Mukuro yet even though both our illusions are considered top-class. _


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Whoo, we made it to the Mist Battle. I guess that next up is the Cloud.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I raise my hand in greeting as Ken and Chikusa come into the gym. The other's reactions are not as friendly. "Ah! That's right!" exclaims Tsuna.<p>

"Huh? T-They're…" starts Yamamoto.

"I-Impossible, at a time like this?!" exclaims Gokudera, pulling out eight sticks of dynamite.

"Calm down, you guys. They brought the Mist Guardian," explains Reborn.

"What are you saying Reborn-san? These guys are… T-Then could the Mist Guardian be…" starts Gokudera.

"Yeah, if they're bringing him… Could it be?" asks Yamamoto.

"I can't believe it. Is the Mist Guardian… R-Rokudo Mukuro?!" exclaims Tsuna.

_Oh, that's right… I heard that Mukuro and the others attacked Tsuna a while back…_

Chrome comes in and throws off her trench coat. "Nay. My name is Chrome

Chrome Dokuro," she says.

"Not Rokudo Mukuro?" asks Tsuna.

"'Chrome Dokuro'?" asks Basil.

"Who is this girl with the extremely weird name?" asks Sasagawa.

Yamamoto asks, "One of your friends, Tsuna?"

"Umm… The Mist Guardian, this girl, isn't Rokudo Mukuro, right?" Tsuna. Ken scoffs and looks to the side. Chikusa just pushes his glasses up.

Before I can respond, Gokudera steps in front of Tsuna s exclaims, "Don't be fooled, Tenth! That's Mukuro! Mukuro is possessing her! He doesn't hesitate in accomplishing his goals! That's the kind of man he is!" _Hey!_

"You won't believe me?" asks Chrome.

"Of course not! Tenth, look at that weapon! And she's hiding that eye with a patch! She's undoubtedly-" says Gokudera.

Tsuna cuts him off. "Not Rokudo Mukuro."

Gokudera looks surprised. "R-Really?"

"Well, it just seems that way!" explains Tsuna.

Chrome walks over to them. "You defended me?" she asks. "Thank you, Boss," she says. Then she kisses him on the cheek. Ken and Gokudera look angry.

"EHHHH?!" Tsuna exclaims. He looks really flustered. I walk over to Chrome.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Gokudera shouts angrily.

Yamamoto restrains him and says, "Now, now."

"A greeting," Chrome explains.

Gokudera points at Chrome as he shouts, "Don't mess with me!"

"Calm down," says Yamamoto.

"Get away from the Tenth!" exclaims Gokudera, trying to kick Chrome now.

Yamamoto continues to try to calm him Gokudera down. "Now, now…" It fails miserably.

"So that's it, I thought some old mystic would appear, but it was a woman," comments Prince the Ripper.

"H-How bewitching…" comments Levi.

"Fantasma is becoming excited. Your Guardian is special after all," comments Mammon.

"And what will you do? Will you let her join us?" asks Sasagawa.

"Of course not! This strange woman…" exclaims Gokudera.

I cross my arms. "Hey! I trained her, you know?"

Ken takes out one of his cartridges. "I can't let that slide!" Chikusa takes out his yo-yo and I pull out some knives.

"Tsuna-san, I'm sorry, but I have myself and my student to defend. I won't let Gokudera mock my student or my teaching," I say.

"Come at me if you're gonna!" shouts Gokudera as he takes out his sticks of dynamite.

"Ken, Chikusa, Kori-san, calm down. It's not something for you to decide. Boss, am I unfit to be your Mist Guardian? I want to fight as your Guardian, but if you say no, then I'll obey," she says to Tsuna.

"T-That's a little sudden. I-It's an important matter," replies Tsuna.

"But Chrome is the only one who can fight as your Mist Guardian," says Reborn.

"R-Reborn-san, you too?" asks Gokduera.

Tsuna seems to be deep in thought. Then he replies, "All right then, it's up to you."

"Eh? Are you sure, Tenth?!" asks Gokudera.

"I can't really put it into words, but I feel like it has to be her," Tsuna explains.

Chrome sighs. She smiles at Tsuna and says, "Thank you."

"Take that," Ken taunts. Gokudera gets really mad in response. I laugh and give Ken a high five. "I forgot to ask before, but what are you doing with _these_ guys?" asks Ken.

"Ah, I got paid pretty well by Reborn-san. 'Course, Mukuro-san's rewards are always the best, even though I don't accept them," I reply.

"Naturally," replies Ken. I nod in agreement.

* * *

><p>I look at the illusion of the floor cracking and floating around. Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Sasagawa, and Basil start to panic. I look at them oddly. <em>Haven't they seen illusions before?<em> Chrome gets attacked by blue tentacles and loses her concentration. The illusion of the floor goes away. The opponent's illusions are pretty strong. It doesn't look too good for Chrome. I look at the Chrome getting strangled by the blue tentacles and realize that it's actually an illusion of Chrome getting strangled. _Oh, good move._

"Too weak. This won't even make for a show," Mammon says, taking to the basketballs.

Chrome jumps down and asks, "Who are you talking to?" The illusion fades to reveal to everyone that it was actually a bunch of basketballs. "Over here."

"The girl turned into basketballs!" exclaims Sasagawa.

"W-What's going on?" asks Tsuna, seeming really confused.

"It was an illusion," explains Colonello, the Arcobaleno with the blue pacifier.

Tsuna asks, "An illusion?"

"It's a battle of tricks, each creating illusions to deceive each other. You aren't able to see an amazing fight like this all the time," explains Reborn.

"Illusions…Mukuro's First Path of Hell!" Tsuna shouts.

"She really is Mukuro!" shouts Gokudera.

"Eh? How is that even a reason?" I ask. Then I continue, "I hate to correct you so bluntly, but she's not Mukuro-san. I can use illusions and so can Mammon, we're both not Mukuro-san."

"Eh? How do you know Mukuro?" asks Tsuna.

I look at him blankly. "Oh, did I never explain that to you? I was born into the Estraneo Family. Mukuro-san was the one who saved me. I worked with him, Ken, and Chikusa for several years. Mukuro-san was also my teacher. That's why I was gone for the past few nights. Mukuro-san asked me to train Chrome-chan," I explain.

"What?! Really?!" exclaims Tsuna.

I nod. "Reborn-san knew already. So, I assumed that you'd find out eventually… Sorry about that," I reply.

"I'm glad you've got some skill. I can use 'it' to my heart's content, in front of you. Let's go Fantasma," says Mammon. His frog turns into a yellow snake.

"The frog is…" starts Tsuna.

"What?!" asks Sasagawa.

"How bizarre!" exclaims Basil. After the snake bites its tail, Mammon starts to float.

"The spiral snake and the indigo pacifier… He was alive, kora!" exclaims Colonello.

"I thought as much. He's the Arcobaleno, Viper!" replies Reborn.

"Finally," comments Levi.

"Shishi, I can't wait," says Prince the Ripper.

"H-He's floating! He's an Arcobaleno too?" asks Tsuna.

"Yeah. He's one of the ultimate babies, and Arcobaleno, kora!" says Colonello.

"Viper of the indigo pacifier. They say that he is an illusionist with the greatest psychic abilities among the Arcobaleno," explains Reborn.

"Psychic? You mean psionics?! That's so occult!" exclaims Gokudera.

"I heard that he went missing in the middle of a battle. But why didn't my pacifier glow until now, kora?" says Colonello.

"I don't really understand, but it seems like he blocked the functions of the pacifier with that chain," says Reborn.

Mammon explains, "A side effect of research that doesn't concern you. Unlike you, I don't lack the determination to break this curse."

"What's he talking about?" asks Tsuna.

"Not good. Against that idiot, a normal illusionist doesn't stand a chance, kora!" says Colonello.

"Don't underestimate her, Colonello. Chrome isn't just any illusionist," says Reborn.

"I won't lose to anyone!" declares Chrome. _It's her first real battle though…_She starts to attack Mammon with her trident. Mammon keeps dodging though.

* * *

><p>Chrome makes pillars of fire burst out of the ground and I pull Tsuna back as one almost hits him. I turn to Gokudera who started to glare at me since he wasn't the one to save his precious "Tenth" and I stick my tongue out at him tauntingly and he glares at me.<p>

"Careful, Tsuna-san, get scared like that and you'll burn to a crisp," I warn.

"T-Thanks…" he says. Then he exclaims. "She did it!"

"A direct hit!" shouts Gokudera.

I shake my head. "Not quite."

"Kori is right. Not yet," says Reborn.

"Eh?" asks Tsuna.

Mammon comes out of the pillar and comments, "Your illusions certainly are first-class. If for even a moment, I felt that those pillars were real, I would have been burnt to a crisp. Thus, your weak spot is an illusion as well."

Suddenly, it becomes very cold, and the fire turns to ice. _Now, this is like my trial. It's like being locked in the freezer again…_ "What's with this cold?" asks Sasagawa.

"The pillars of fire froze?" asks Basil.

"What a mistake, I fell for the illusion, kora!" says Colonello.

"Me too. As would be expected from Viper," replies Reborn.

Mammon explains, "An illusion takes over your perception. In other words, it dominates the brain which controls the five senses. The domination becomes stronger with the power of the illusionist, and the chances of falling for the illusion increase. However, when an illusionist has their illusion countered by another illusion, it means that they have given up control of their perception."

* * *

><p>I gasp as the trident shatters. Chrome starts to cough. Then, she collapses suddenly. "Wha? What?!" exclaims Tsuna.<p>

"What happened?!" asks Yamamoto.

"Suddenly, she doesn't look well!" exclaims Basil. He looks really surprised.

Chrome's stomach starts to cave in and Sasagawa exclaims, "H-Hey! Look at that!"

"She's caving in," Gokudera says.

"Is this an illusion too?!" asks Tsuna.

"This in an illusion. What's happening? What's with this girl?" asks Mammon.

"Mukuro-sama…" mutters Chrome. She's clearly in a lot of pain. She starts to cry. "Mukuro-sama…"

"It's hard to believe, but it seems like she's been surviving with illusions for organs," says Mammon. _He figured it out already?!_

"Organs made of illusions?!" Tuna exclaims.

"That's why her stomach caved in when she lost control of her illusions," explains Reborn.

"Then, that girl doesn't have internal organs?!" asks Tsuna.

Chrome continues to cry. "Mukuro-sama…Mukuro-sama… I wanted to help you." Chrome's body starts to get covered by mist. _That seems like something Mukuro-san would do…._

"He's coming," says Tsuna.

"What's the matter, Tsuna?" asks Reborn.

"Tenth?"

"He's coming!" exclaims Tsuna.

Yamamoto looks at Tsuna. "Tsuna, what's the matter?"

"It's him! He's coming!" shouts Tsuna.

"'He'?" asks Yamamoto.

"What are you talking about, Tenth?" asks Gokudera.

"Mukuro! Mukuro is coming!" shouts the Vongola.

"You all seem as lively as ever, little Mafioso. It's been some time. I've come back from the edge of transmigration," says Mukuro. As usual, he used a dramatic entrance. Mammon starts to talk about Mukuro's failure at escaping and I catch a glimpse of Ken tensing up.

From there, the situation just gets better and better for the Tsuna's side. I watch Mukuro carefully to try and learn more to improve. _He got better… A lot better since the last time I saw him fight. It hasn't even been that long though…_.

* * *

><p>After the battle is won by Mukuro, Chikusa says "Mukuro-sama…"<p>

"Amazing! You're so strong," says Ken.

"Mukuro-san," I start. Then I bow. "I'm sorry I didn't do such a complete job in training Chrome-chan. I tried my best to fit everything in as soon as possible, but it didn't work out. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," I say. I look at the floor, depressed that I failed.

He smiles. "Don't worry, Kori. You did well for just two days of training her."

I look up at him. "Mukuro-san…" I mutter. Then I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you…." _As long as he's satisfied...then I guess I didn't fail._

"How dare you come here!" shouts Gokudera.

"What?!" shouts Ken. I glare at Gokudera.

"Hey, Gokudera," says Yamamoto.

"H-Hold on!" Tsuna exclaims.

"You should be cautious of me. I don't intend to become friendly with the mafia like Kori has," says Mukuro.

I shrug. "I'm a mercenary. When you decide to take over the world and destroy the mafia, I'll find a way to survive," I reply.

"I became a Guardian because it would be a more convenient way to take over your body, Sawada Tsunayoshi," Mukuro explains.

Tsuna calms down Gokudera and then says, "Either way, t-thanks."

Mukuro's eyes start to droop. "I've gotten a little tired…This girl…" he says quietly.

"Bye," I reply. I smile a bit. "I'll be looking forward to doing business with you again." I bow slightly as I say my standard farewell to all my clients. He chuckles a bit and starts to fall to the floor. He switches places with Chrome just before he hits the ground.

"He turned into a girl again. What's going on?" asks Sasagawa.

"Was that an illusion on Mukuro, or is she the illusion?" asks Gokudera.

"O-Oh, yeah! How are her organs?" asks Tsuna.

Reborn checks and replies, "There's nothing to worry about. Chrome's organs are functioning properly thanks to Mukuro's strong illusions."

"S-She's asleep," comments Tsuna.

"She gets tired to easily. That's the way humans are…" mutters Ken.

"Ken, let's go," says Chickusa. "Nice seeing you again, Kori." I nod.

"Right," replies Ken. "See ya around, Kori."

"Bye," I reply as I wave to them.

"You're abandoning her?" asks Tsuna.

"When she wakes up, she'll be able to walk. I don't plan on giving that girl my attention. She's not Mukuro-san, after all," replies Ken.

"I'll take care of her then…" I mutter. I smile to myself. They haven't changed a bit.


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: Some of the chapters are getting longer. Is that good?

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I wake up to the sound of Tsuna screaming again. I'm surprised that I can hear it from down the hall. I sigh quietly. He's been worried that Hibari's going to lose tonight's battle. I roll out of bed and stretch a little before changing into the school uniform and heading downstairs. I decided last night that I'd go check on Chrome today.<p>

* * *

><p>I walk into the hospital room that Chrome was assigned to and find that she already changed back into the Kokuyo uniform and packed up her trident. "Morning," I greet as I raise my right hand.<p>

She blinks at me owlishly. "Kori-san…"

"Good to see that you've gotten better," I say. "I just came to let you know that Ken and Chikusa are back at Kokuyo Land. You know how to get back, right?" She nods. "Then I'll be on my way. Take care of yourself," I say as I turn around and open the door again.

"Wait," she says quietly. I turn my head and look back at her, but my hand doesn't let go of the door. "I'll see you again later. Mukuro-sama was interested in seeing the Cloud match," she explains. I nod and walk out with a wave of my right hand. My visit is very brief. It's best to finish things as quickly as possible, I've always thought that. As I start to walk down the hall, I start to wonder about Hibari's training. Maybe Tsuna's worrying rubbed off on me. _Might as well visit the Bronco too since I'm around then._

* * *

><p>I find the Bronco walking down the hall. <em>Wonderful, I don't have to search.<em> I walk up to the taller adult male and he looks at me for a second. "You're…" he says. I get a blank look from him. Obviously, he has no idea who I am.

I pull out the Snow ring attached to a chain around my neck and say, "Saito, Miyuki."

"Oh! You're the Ice Princess, Tsuna's Snow Guardian," he says. I nod. He smiles. "I assume that you're here to 'get your injuries examined' too?"

"Sharp as a tack, Bucking Bronco," I say as I cross my arms. "That is, other than the fact that I don't have any injuries," I finish flatly. "Unlike the others, who I assume said that they were getting their injuries examined, I don't plan on making up excuses, I came to see the odds of Hibari-san losing tonight's match." I notice that he looks surprised.

"T-That was really direct…"

* * *

><p>I look up from my tea as the door opens and the Bronco and Tsuna are standing outside. "These guys came to ask me the same thing," says the Bronco.<p>

"Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto, Kori-chan, and Onii-san?!" exclaims Tsuna.

I raise my right hand in greeting. "Tsuna-san. Bronco"

The Bronco smiles and says in a teasing way, "Although they all told me that they came to have their injuries examined." I raise my right eyebrow at him, but I don't say anything to correct him.

Tsuna looks touched. "Everyone…" he mutters.

"And then, I guess they felt relieved and fell asleep," explains the Bronco.

Tsuna turns to the Bronco. "Eh? So?" he asks.

"Kyoya's perfect. He's so strong that even his tutor has nothing left to say to him," the Bronco replies confidently.

"Thank goodness…" Tsuna says. Then he yawns. "I feel relieved, and all of a sudden, I'm a little sleepy."

I watch as Reborn appears at the window in the hallway. "You have to train! We're going to complete the Zero Point Breakthrough."

Tsuna and the Bronco flinch. Tsuna shouts, "Reborn! Why are you a ninja?! And what are you talking about? Tonight's battle is going to decide everything! Is there any reason for me to train?"

I watch as the others start to wake up. "Ten…th?" mutters Gokudera.

Sasagawa mutters as he rolls over, "Let me sleep a little longer…"

"It's because this is the last match, let them do all the cheering," explains Reborn.

"Why?" asks Tsuna.

Reborn replies a bit darkly, "What are you going to do if the worst happens?"

Tsuna gets a serious look on his face. "Huh? The worst?"

* * *

><p>I stand around the front of the school with Gokudera, Yamamoto and Sasagawa. I changed into a black hoodie with a white skirt and a pair of black knee-high combat boots before coming. "Listen up, you guys! We're going to win no matter what!" shouts Gokudera.<p>

"What are you saying, Gokudera? Hibari is the one who is fighting," replies

Yamamoto.

"What good it to get excited?" asks Sasagawa.

Gokudera shouts back angrily, "I know that!" Then he gets a serious look on his face. "But you heard it. The Tenth entrusted us with this, and he isn't present. We can't lose because we weren't cheering enough!"

Yamamoto laughs. "That's weird logic."

"You'll never understand, you baseball idiot!" shouts Gokudera.

"Octopus-Head! I don't get it either, but I'm extremely fired up!" shouts Sasagawa.

"This is _Hibari-san_ we're talking about. I don't know if you haven't realized yet, but he won't be happy to see so many of us, much less like the fact that we're here to cheer him on," I say as I cross my arms.

"Oh. Today's hero is here," says Yamamoto.

Hibari stops walking and asks, "Why are you here?"

Gokudera, shouts, "What was that?!"

Yamamoto places a hand on Gokudera's shoulder. "Now, now, we're here to…" starts Yamamoto.

Sasagawa finishes, "Cheer you on."

"Hm…?" asks Hibari, looking to the side. Then he looks back to us and says, "You're an eyesore. If you don't leave, I'll bite you to death."

"I told you," I say to Gokudera. "Sorry, it couldn't be helped, orders from the top. Reborn-san asked that I attend," I say to Hibari.

Gokudera shouts. "What?!" Yamamoto laughs.

Sasagawa trembles and then growls. "What's with that attitude?! I'm extremely mad!" he shouts. Suddenly, there are two aggravated people out of us four.

"Now, now, calm down," says Yamamoto, placing his other hand on Sasagawa's shoulder. "We just happened to be passing by, so don't mind us, Hibari. Okay?"

The floor trembles a little as something very heavy lands on the ground. Hibari smirks and says, "Hm, I see. I just need to bite that to death." Then he takes out one of his tonfas.

* * *

><p>I look around the exercise ground. I wonder how they get this all done in a day without anyone noticing? Sasagawa starts, "This is…"<p>

"Yes, this is the combat field for the Cloud Guardian- Cloud Ground," replies one of the Cervello.

"What did they do? The exercise ground is…" starts Sasagawa, his eyes still wide.

"Those are…G-Gattling guns!" Gokudera exclaims.

"The duty of the Cloud Guardian is to be the solitary, noble, floating cloud that protects the family while taking an independent stance," one of the Cervello starts.

Then the one other continues, "Without being bound by anything. Thus, we prepared the most severe field. It is surrounded by barbed wire, and the eight automated guns will fire upon anything moving within 30 meters." She crumples up a piece of paper into a ball. Then, she throws it into the field. The crumpled ball of paper is shot at repeatedly and quickly until it's remains are on the floor in shreds. The others' eyes widen.

"Also, there are several underground traps which are sensitive to weight. They will explode after giving off an alarm," explains the Cervello.

Sasagawa shouts, "It's like a battlefield!"

"If you're scared, run away like your boss did," says Levi. Prince the Ripper laughs at this.

Gokudera shouts back, "Don't mock him! The Tenth didn't run."

Yamamoto places a hand on Gokudera's shoulder. "Tsuna has no reason to come. Hibari's our ace. He won't lose," says Yamamoto.

"What?" asks Levi.

He and Prince the Ripper turn to look at us, but they turn in the opposite direction to Xanxus as he says, "Hm. 'Ace'?" Then Xanxus bursts out in laughter and says, "I can't wait."

* * *

><p>Ken and Chikusa came, so I walk over and start to talk to them. "Ken, Chikusa," I greet. They look over to me.<p>

"You're with these guys again," comments Ken. Chikusa nods at me in greeting.

I grin at him. "Of course. I have to follow what the boss says," I reply.

Ken shrugs. "Eh, that's true."

I laugh a little. "So why are you guys here?" I ask.

"We're here to observe for Mukuro-san," explains Ken.

I raise my right eyebrow. "Oh? Is there something going on between the others and Mukuro-san? No one will explain it to me," I say. Then I shrug. "Bad memories, I guess."

"Mukuro-sama fought him a while ago. I guess he had fun, so he wants to see how much better he got," explains Chikusa.

"Huh, so that's it…Hm," I say.

Chrome runs over and we all turn to her. "Chikusa. Ken. You two came," she says.

"It's a pain, but we're watching this for Mukuro-sama," explains Chikusa. _They didn't tell her that they were coming too?_

"Your job is over! You don't have to come anymore!" exclaims Ken.

Chrome sits down and says. "I want to watch too."

"Stay further away!" shouts Ken.

"Ken, it's about to start," says Chikusa. I look at Ken and Chikusa blankly as they both move a few steps away.

"We got them this far because Mukuro-san won. If they lose now, I won't let that duckling get away with it," Ken grumbles.

"'Duckling'? Don't you mean 'skylark'?" I reply.

"Hey! Mercenary! Get over here!" shouts Gokudera.

I roll my eyes and reply. "Yeah, yeah. Calm yourself Octopus- Head, I'm coming." I sigh and turn to Ken and Chikusa. "Talk to you later, I guess." Then I walk over to the others.

"Hibari, fight," says Sasagawa for once at normal volume and in an unexcited tone.

Gokudera complains, "Hey, turf-tead! Your voice is too quiet!"

"What?! I can't get fired up because Hibari won't join us," replies Sasagawa.

"But I din't think that Gokudera, who was so against it when we started, would get so excited about it now," says Yamamoto.

"Of course, the Tenth would be done it if he were here," replies Gokudera as he turns around.

"Then we will begin. Cloud Ring, Gola Mosca versus Hibari, Kyoya. Battle start!" announces one of the Cervello. I look blankly at Gola Mosca as he starts to fly over the felid towards Hibari.

Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Sasagawa's eyes all widen. "What? He flew!" exclaims Gokudera.

"Is that legal?!" exclaims Yamamoto. Gola Mosca starts to shoot at Hibari, but it seems that Hibari is unharmed. Hibari charges at Gola Mosca and with two hits from Hibari, Gola Mosca's arm is ripped off. My eyes widen as Gola Mosca explodes.

Hibari puts both halves of the ring together and says as he tosses it to the Cervello, "I don't want this."

"Ehhh, uhhh!" The Cervello looks completely boggled as she manages to catch the ring.

"You, sitting there. Come on down. I need to bite the boss of Monkey Mountain to death before I go home," says Hibari.

"What?" asks Levi.

"Not 'what,' Octopus," replies Prince the Ripper.

"'Octopus'?!" exclaims Levi.

"We've lost the conflict. What are we going to do now, boss?" asks Prince the Ripper. Xanxus just smiles. Suddenly, Xanxus jumps up and uses his foot to aim for Hibari. Hibari blocks with his tonfa and Xanxus jumps back.

"My foot slipped," replies Xanxus. _Something's up. Why is Xanxus taunting him?_

"I'm sure," says Hibari.

Xanxus replies, "I'm not lying." Then the alarm sounds and Xanxus jumps away before the mine explodes. "I was just going over there to retrieve that piece of junk. We've lost," explains Xanxus.

"Mm, you're face doesn't look it," replies Hibari as he charges at Xanxus. Xanxus only dodges though.

"What is Hibari doing?!" exclaims Sasagawa. "He just won against that machine!" Hibari continues to attack and Xanxus continues to dodge in return. They get close enough to one of the gattling guns that it starts to fire. Then another mine goes off.

"Another mine!" exclaims Gokudera.

"Hibari!" shouts Yamamoto. Hibari seems to be okay though.

Hibari asks, "How long do you plan to keep this up?"

"Relax. I won't lay a hand on you," replies Xanxus.

"As you wish. Either way, you will be bitten to death," says Hibari.

Levi curses. "He's mocking the boss!"

"Hold on, Mr. Sullen," says Prince the Ripper.

"'Sullen'?!" exclaims Levi.

"If we, the losers, make a move, then it'll be seen as a rebellion against the soon-to-be-Tenth. All of us, along with the boss, will be executed," explains Prince the Ripper.

"So you're telling me to leave that insolent brat alone?" asks Levi.

"Our boss is scheming something," replies Prince the Ripper with a smile.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I bet Mammon or Squalo would have known."

* * *

><p>Suddenly, Hibari gets hit by a laser and he staggers and lands on one knee. "What was that?" asks Gokudera.<p>

"Hibari!" exclaims Yamamoto. Then, there are sounds of something being fired four times.

"W-What's that?!" exclaims Gokudera. I look to the sky and see five projectiles coming at us.

"Oh no! Run!" exclaims Yamamoto. I dive to the floor and cover my head.

Gokudera curses. "Are you all alright?" asks Gokudera. I start to stand up now.

"Yeah," replies Yamamoto.

"Are you alright, Sasagawa's brother?" asks Yamamoto. I can't seem to find them.

Sasagawa coughs. "What in the world is going on?"

"I don't have a clue," replies Gokudera. "Wait, where's that mercenary?" asks Gokudera.

"Huh? You're right!" exclaims Yamamoto. "Kori!"

"Saito!" exclaims Sasagawa.

"Mercenary!" exclaims Gokudera.

I cough, and shout, "I'm here! I think I'm behind you guys somewhere! I can't really see!" I feel someone's hand land on my shoulder. The smoke gets thinner and I see that it was Gokudera. "Thanks," I say. He nods. I hear something flying around and Gokudera says, "T-That's…."

"I told you. I tried to retrieve it, but their Cloud Guardian stopped me," says Xanxus. As if it was timed, Gola Mocsa goes even more berserk. "Because of him, I lost control of Mocsa."

"So it's on a rampage?" asks Gokudera.

I nod. "Seems so, it's even attacking the Varia," I reply. Gola Mosca fires another round of missiles at us. We all rush off to dodge again.

I let out a sigh as we regroup. "That was close!" comments Yamamoto.

Gokudera finally stops coughing and then he curses. "This is crazy!" As though it heard us, Gola Mosca shoots the side of the school with a laser. "A condensed-particle cannon!" exclaims Gokudera.

Sasagawa exclaims, "It's attacking everything! We'll all be done for!"

In the middle of all the chaos, Xanxus lets out a laugh, "Bwahahaha! This is a real disaster! Hahaha!"

"He's laughing," Yamamoto says slowly, his eyes wide.

"He'd planned to cause this accident from the start, no matter what, to wipe us out. That's why he taunted Hibari," says Gokudera.

"How underhanded." Sasagawa holds his fist up.

"You used me?" asks Hibari after he stands up.

* * *

><p>I see Chrome run into the field. "Hey! The field is dangerous!" shouts Sasagawa.<p>

"Chrome-chan! Turn back!" I shout. Suddenly the alarm sounds. The mine explodes. Chrome, with the help of Ken and Chikusa, seems okay. I let out a sigh of relief. The gattling gun points at them and Gola Mosca is coming from the other side now. _You're kidding me, right?_

"No good!" exclaims Yamamoto.

Gokudera exclaims, "They've been surrounded!" The gun starts to fire and Gola Mosca shoots the particle-cannon at them, but just in time, a gigantic orange flame protects them. "That's…" starts Gokudera.

"That flame. He's come," says Xanxus. The bullets run out in the gattling gun.

"Boss," says Chrome.

Sasagawa says with a smile, "That's…."

"Tenth!" exclaims Gokudera. Yamamoto smiles. I find myself smiling too.

"So, you came. However…" starts Xanxus. Gola Mosca starts to attack again.

Xanxus looks at Reborn and then turns back to Tsuna. "The trash will be taken out in order. There's no change in that." Tsuna looks up and then starts to fly. He takes out all the missiles mid-air.

"W-What?" Levi looks surprised. I admit that I'm surprised too though.

Prince the Ripper says, "I can't believe it."

"He's flying," says Yamamoto, looking awestruck.

"You're amazing, Tenth!" exclaims Gokudera. Tsuna rips off Gola Mosca's other arm. _He was going too fast, I couldn't catch his movements completely._

"What did he do? How did he move just then?" asks Levi.

"Wow."

"Tenth." Both Gokudera and Yamamoto are surprised too.

Tsuna says to Mosca, "Hey, you piece of junk. I'm your opponent." He bows the arm up. Suddenly, everything is aimed at Tsuna.

"S-Sawada is…!" exclaims Sasagawa.

"What's going on? All the missiles were aimed at the Tenth!" exclaims Gokudera.

Reborn explains, "He's after Tsuna. Mosca is concentrating his attacks on Tsuna." Too many missiles to count blow up right by Tsuna.

"Tenth!" shouts Gokudera.

Tsuna flies out unharmed. "Tsuna!" exclaims Yamamoto.

"That's impossible!" Levi exclaims. Tsuna dodges the cannon and flies upwards, but Gola Mosca gets in front of him and starts to charge the cannon again.

"Not good! He can't run in mid-air!" exclaims Yamamoto.

Gokudera shouts, "Tenth!" Tsuna propels upwards and then punches the cannon. Gola Mosca crashes to the floor.

"He's strong," comments Sasagawa.

"Yeah!" agrees Yamamoto.

Gokudera looks really happy. "As expected of the Tenth!"

"He got so much better…" I say.

Prince the Ripper sounds shocked. "I don't believe it."

"B-Boss," says Levi. Xanxus' smile doesn't faze. I start to frown, something is going on…

* * *

><p>"H-He beat that monster!" exclaims Sasagawa. <em>It's too early to let your guard down…I'm sure that Xanxus wasn't smiling because he's happy for Tsuna.<em>

"You did it, Tsuna!" says Yamamoto.

As usual Gokudera compliments Tsuna. "Splendid work, Tenth!"

Chikusa asks, "Is it over?"

"That was pretty rough," comments Ken.

"As expected, a mechanical weapon is no match against Sawada-dono," comments Basil.

Reborn cuts in, "But there's one thing I'm hung up on. They could have unleashed Mosca at full power and defeated us, wiping us out. Xanxus… Why did he act in the roundabout way?"

"Xanxus. What is this?" asks Tsuna. Suddenly, Mosca flies at Tsuna again, but he holds it off with one hand.

"With one hand?" asks Basil. Tsuna lights the flam in his other hand and chops Mosca right in the middle.

"He did it!" Gokudera exclaims happily. Tsuna gasps as a man falls out of Mosca. Xanxus' smile widens. My eyes widen. _No way…_


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: The Ring Conflict is slowly drawing to an end…

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>Tsuna looks shocked. "T-This person…" <em>This man….he's the Ninth. I recognize him from a picture I saw…<em> "The Ninth…"

"Why? Why is he here?" asks Basil.

Reborn jumps over to Tsuna. Tsuna lands on his knees. "What in the world is going on? Why was he inside Mosca?"

"Hey! Get a hold of yourself!" Reborn says to the Ninth. Reborn looks at Mosca. "I've seen Mosca's structure once before. It seems like the Ninth was being used as Gola Mosca's power supply," explains Reborn.

"Huh? Power supply? W-Why?" asks Tsuna.

Xanxus cuts in, "There's no need to be asking 'why'. You attacked the Ninth."

Tsuna's eyes widen. "I did?"

Reborn unties the Ninth. "This isn't good. This wound can't be dealt with using first aid."

"That's…" starts Tsuna.

"Who mercilessly punched that old man?" asks Xanxus. Tsuna gapes at his gloves. "Who scorched Mosca into two, along with the old man?"

"That's…I….the Ninth…I…."

Suddenly, the Ninth says, "No." Everyone's eyes widen. "It was my fault"

"N-Ninth!"

"We're finally able to meet, Tsunayoshi-kun," says the Ninth.

Tsuna asks, "Eh?"

"I'm sorry. All of this happened because of my weakness. My weakness woke Xanxus from his long slumber," says the Ninth.

Reborn and Tsuna gasp. "Slumber? What do you mean?" asks Reborn. "After Xanxus left the 'crib', he left the Family and should have been placed under heavy surveillance by the Vongola."

"'Crib'?" asks Tsuna.

Reborn explains, "The greatest coup d'état attempt in Vongola history occurred eight years ago. The dreadful fact that the Ninths son was responsible was kept secret. Only the tops of the Vongola and the elites who fought in that battle knew of it."

"For Xanxus, time has stood still for eight years. He's been asleep ever since that time, inflating his dreadful amount of hate and tenacity," explains the Ninth.

"Eh? W-What do you…What in the world?" asks Tsuna. The Ninth coughs. "A-Are you okay? Hang in there!" Tsuna exclaims.

"Tsunayoshi-kun," starts the Ninth. "I constantly hear about you from Reborn. About the girl you like, about your school, about your friends… You are a child with a heart to ill-matched to that of a mafia boss." His voice is getting weaker.

"Ninth!"

"I know that you've never once fought happily. You always have a wrinkle on your forehead and you swing your fists as if to pray. That's why I choose you as Vongola the Tenth," says the Ninth. He lights a small flame from his finger. Tsuna starts to cry. "I'm sorry. But I'm glad it's you."

"Wait!" exclaims Tsuna as he takes the Ninth's arm. "No! Please wait! Ninth!" Tsuna continues to cry. "Ninth…"

"How dare you kill the Ninth. I take your cruel treatment of the Ninth as a challenge to his true son, Xanxus, and the honorable spirit of the Vongola. Don't feign ignorance. The burns on the Ninth's chest are more than enough proof. The Ring Conflict is nothing compared to what you've done. This is for the sake of my father, who was the boss, and for the future of the Vongola. I will defeat you and avenge him," says Xanxus with a cruel smile plastered on his face.

"What are you saying?! _You_ captured the Ninth!" shouts Gokudera.

Reborn says to Xanxus, "This is what you were after."

"Huh?" asks Tsuna.

"Even if he won the Ring Conflict and became the boss-in-waiting, the ones who knew about the 'crib' would still object to his appointment and resist him. But if he avenges the Ninth after framing Tsuna, then it would be different. He would gain absolute trust of many in the family. And if he's stronger than Tsuna, who was meant to be the Tenth, he could prove that he is the true successor. If that were to happen, it wouldn't be an issue to deal with those who oppose him," explains Reborn.

Basil summarizes, "Then Xanxus did this to become the boss and create a dictatorship!"

"Yeah. This was a trap. Where Mosca would go out of control and put Tsuna's friends in danger, he predicted that Tsuna would come to rescue them." replies Reborn.

Tsuna starts to shake. "That's…J-Just for that…"

"Everyone, please refrain from conjuncture," says one of the Cervello.

The other one continues, "We are officially recording all statements."

"They're…" Yamamoto starts angrily.

"I knew it. The Cervello has always been on Xanxus' side!" Gokudera exclaims angrily.

Reborn says with force, "Do as you'd like. I've already snapped." The Cervello women gasp. "But I will keep my promise to the Ninth and won't raise a hand. Not in my student's fight." The Cervello let out a sigh of relief. "However," continues Reborn. The Cervello look startled again as Reborn says, "even as I say that, I don't know what my student, who doesn't like fighting, will do."

Tsuna stands up. "Xanxus. I'll be taking that ring back. I won't… I won't let you succeed the Ninth," he declares.

"Well said, Tsuna," says Reborn.

Xanxus replies, "I'll carve you into the history of the Vonogla, shouting that there was a pathetic wimp who revolted against Xanxus."

"He's not alone!" shouts Gokudera. Gokudera holds up his dynamite. "Then Tenth's will is…"

Chrome holds up her trident, Sasagawa looks ready to fight, I pull out my knives, and Yamamoto finishes, "Is our will!"

Hibari takes out his tonfas. "Personally."

"You brats want a fight?" asks Levi.

Prince the Ripper takes out his knives. "Shishi, sounds fun."

"Eradicate the traitors!" Xanxus orders.

"Please wait a moment," the Cervello say at the same time.

"The fight to avenge the Ninth…" says one.

"Will be controlled by us," finishes the other.

Sasagawa exclaims, "What?!"

"We have duty to watch over the Vongola Rings," explains the Cervello.

Gokudera shouts back, "What are you saying, dogs of Xanxus?!"

"Watch your mouth," commands the Cervello. "We have the Ninth's direct orders." She holds up the paper again.

The other one continues," We cannot allow the Rings to change hands without our approval."

"How dare you! You must have forced the Ninth to make the Dying Will Flame Seal!" shouts Basil.

The Cervello replies, "As we said earlier, please refrain from conjuncture."

"This battle, which shall determine the next Vongola boss, shall be called," starts the other.

At the same time, they say, "the Sky Match."

"In other words, it will be the last battle of the Ring Conflict."  
>"How does that suit you, Xanxus-sama?" asks the Cervello.<p>

Xanxus replies, "It's not bad."

The Cervello announces, "Then, tomorrow night…"

"Would everyone please gather at Nami-Middle," finishes the other.

Prince the Ripper says, "So you've given them a stay of execution."

"What?!" shouts Sasagawa.

Gokudera says angrily, "You…"

"This is good news, Tsuna was exhausted from his training today," says Reborn.

"Tomorrow is going to be this comedy's last act. Struggle with all your might," says Xanxus as he flicks the ring over to Tsuna. Tsuna catches it and Xanxus teleports away with a large burst of light.

"H-He disappeared…Those women too!" exclaims Sasagawa, looking a bit shell-shocked.

Basil exclaims, "N-Ninth!" He runs over to the Ninth. "Please, hold on!"

Suddenly, the Bronco's voice asks, "Were we too late?"

"Bucking Bronco!" exclaims Gokudera.

The Bronco orders, "You, take the Ninth and any injured."

* * *

><p>The Ninth gets carried away in a stretcher. Yamamoto shouts, "Are you all right, Hibari?"<p>

"You were surprisingly well behaved," comments Gokudera.

"If these incidents are drawing out that herbivore's power, then I can't intervene yet," replies Hibari. It seems that everyone has turned to Tsuna, so I do too.

Reborn kicks Tsuna to the floor as he says, "Hey we're going home!" He lands on Tsuna's back with a surprising amount of force. "We're going home."

"Huh?" asks Tsuna.

"You need to recharge for tomorrow's match," explains Reborn.

Tsuna asks, "Why do you always kick me?!"

Reborn replies bluntly, "I felt irritated."

"W-What kind of reason is that?!" he exclaims. I start to laugh along with the others. Reborn continues to kick Tsuna.

I walk up to Hibari and say, "I'll see you tomorrow morning for the patrol then, Hibari-san." He nods and I continue to walk. I wave to Ken, Chikusa, and Chrome on my way out. _It's strange, I feel oddly at ease… _I look up at the sky. _I wonder why?_

* * *

><p>I see Tsuna looking around the school awe struck. "Morning, Tsuna-san," I greet. I stare at him for a bit and ask, "You were worried about the school, aren't you?"<p>

Reborn says, "I just explained it to him."

I nod. "I even specifically came here earlier this morning to see if I had to use some of my illusions to repair the school. I had planned to follow Hibari-san around today, since he doesn't seem to mind much, so that I would only have to cast an illusion on the parts in view. I guess that I don't have to though," I explain. I wave before I start to walk away. "Well, I'll be on my way to class then. I need a nap," I say as I leave.

* * *

><p>I go back home to find that Mrs. Sawada is really relieved and happy, which is shown by the incredible amount of food that she's making. "Did something good happen?" I ask as I pour myself a cup of tea.<p>

She smiles. "Kori-chan! Lambo-kun woke up today!" she exclaims happily.

"Lambo…" I mutter. "That's right, he's been in the hospital this entire time," I reply. I cross my arms because I feel a bit uncomfortable. "I'm heading out for a bit," I say quietly before leaving.

* * *

><p>I start to walk to the hospital with a bag of grapes and grape candy. <em>I'm pretty sure that he seemed to like grapes the best…<em> I let out a sigh. _What's happening to me? When have I ever been one to care so much about others? It's all Tsuna's doing. The first person to seriously care about my well-being…_ I shake my head before I open the door to the hospital room quietly. I smirk a little as I listen to Gokudera talk about the events to so far to Lambo. "So, you really do care about him don't you?" I ask after Gokudera tucks Lambo back in.

"GWAHH! You!" he exclaims. I smirk at him. Then he looks at my hands, which are holding the shopping bags, and says, "Oh, like you don't either?"

"…When I got home, Mrs. Sawada seemed very busy…but she wanted to bring some food to Lambo. So, since no one else was around, I volunteered," I reply as I put down the shopping bags on the hospital bed and then cross my arms. "I am living there without paying her, after all."

"Yeah, right," he replies.

Suddenly Reborn's voice says, "You two do have a good side after all. Gokudera. Kori." The pot holding a flower turns around to reveal Reborn's face.

"Reborn-san! How long have you been there?" we shout at the same time.

"Since the beginning," replies Reborn.

"F-From the start…" mutters Gokudera. Gokudera slumps and I look at him blankly. Suddenly he stands up again. "I-Is the Tenth here too?"  
>"Tsuna went to school today," replies Reborn. Gokudera and I let out a sigh. "So, the story thus far has been of the Guardian's battles. The decisive battle to become Vongola the Tenth is a direct fight between Tsuna and Xanxus. It's going to become even fiercer in tonight's Sky Match." Suddenly, Reborn has a glint in his eye. "So…For the moment, I'm going to…"<p>

"A-Are you going to do something?" asks Gokudera. He looks a little scared. Reborn starts to snore.

"He fell asleep?!" we exclaim at the same time. "Quit doing that!" we shout in sync again. "Hey! Stop!" _Oh god, why? Are we some sort of entertainment?_ I stop speaking to avoid any more in sync shouting.

"You're just conserving energy!" shouts Gokudera.

I wait for him to calm down, and then I ask, "We never speak of this, agreed?"

He nods. "Agreed."

I nod seriously. "I'll be on my way then." I start to walk out of the room. "Let's do our best later, for Tsuna-san…Gokudera."


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: The Sky Battle… all in one chapter since Kori was too busy being forgotten most of it.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I walk down the street and continue to head towards the school. As I get further away from home, I feel a little more and more anxiety show up. It's not the good kind either. It's strange. I do a quick check for everything. I have knives on me and the Ring. It should be all I need…<p>

I almost groan. I'm still feeling anxious. There has to be a reason behind it. _"There's going to be danger."_ I gasp as I hear Mukuro's voice in my head suddenly. I look around and let out a sigh. No one's around to see me get caught off guard.

_ Huh? Mukuro-san? Shouldn't you be warning Chrome-chan then?_

_"Kufufu…I don't want to though. There isn't much she can do either way,"_ he replies.

_That may be true, but still… Hey, wait! What do you mean by you "don't want to"?_ I start to frown as I get no reply. _I should prepare back-up, but the question is, who? _I start to wonder about who owes me favors._ Ah! I've got it. Mukuro-san, could I ask you for a quick favor, please?_

* * *

><p>I snap my cell phone shut and look up as Gokudera calls out, "Hey." He stops at the streetlight.<p>

"Yo," replies Yamamoto. Sasagawa shows up too.

"Weird seeing you all here," I comment. I shove my phone back into my pocket. Somehow, we all met at an intersection.

"Let's go," says Gokudera.

Yamamoto replies, "Yeah."

"Let's go," declares Sasagawa. I nod and we all continue to walk to Nami-Middle together.

"Everyone!" exclaims Basil from behind us. We all turn around.

"Weren't you coming with Tsuna?" asks Yamamoto.

Basil replies, "No, I was talking to our allies in Italy."

"And how was it?" asks Gokudera.

Basil says solemnly, "Not good. According to Dino-dono, Master can't leave Vongola Headquarters." _So, Tsuna-san's father huh? Exactly what happened?_

"The Bucking Bronco can't do anything. No matter what happens, we can't rely on people around us," Gokudera says seriously.

I nod. "I have to agree with you on that one."

"So what? Tsuna's gonna win!" Yamamoto replies happily.

"Of course he is! Who else besides the Tenth is worthy of being the boss?" replies Gokudera.

"U-Um… I heard this from Dino-dono, before the 'crib' incident, there were five candidates including Sawada-dono," says Basil.

"Five?" asks Sasagawa.

"Four, besides Tsuna," clarifies Yamamoto.

Basil replies, "Yes. In that group, the three eldest were each blessed with the skills to become boss. The one chosen by all the leaders, except the Ninth and the External Advisor, was Xanxus. That's how overwhelming Xanxus' abilities are."

"Hey. Was the Tenth included in the 'blessed three'?" asks Gokudera.

Basil lowers his head. "He was not."

Sasagawa looks at the ground. Yamamoto smiles. "I see".

"That's not surprising," says Gokudera. I raise my right eyebrow at him. That sort of comment wasn't expected from him.

Basil looks up and his eyes widen. "Huh?"

"Listen up, rookie. The Tenth is so amazing that only a few people can see it," Gokudera replies seriously. _Ah yes… of course. He should just set up a religion. Tsunaism or something._

Yamamoto says, "Haha. Tsuna's not that hard to understand. His amazingness is so obvious that it's easily overlooked."

"That doesn't make sense, you baseball-nut!" shouts Gokudera.

"Sometimes, I can't tell if Sawada is all that great or not," says Sasagawa.

"What?!" exclaims Gokudera.

"But," continues Sasagawa, "that's how he's above average."

Gokudera exclaims, "The two of you, don't say confusing things!"

"What does that mean, exactly?" Yamamoto asks Sasagawa.

"I don't really understand it anymore," replies Sasagawa.

I cross my arms and say, "To be honest with you all, when I first met Tsuna-san, I figured that I'd only have to stick around until he lost so that I could get paid."

"WHAT?!" Gokudera yells. He looks ready to kill me.

I choose to ignore him. "But," I continue, "I realized that someone who cares so much for others is worth fighting under."

* * *

><p>"We've been waiting for you," says the Cervello when we get to the school. They jump down. "Now, all Guardians on Sawada's side."<p>

"Storm, Sun, Rain, Snow," starts the other.

"And Mist, have arrived," finishes the other.

"Mist?" asks Tsuna. We all look around and find Chrome behind us. I raise my right hand at her. "You're…" Tsuna lets his sentence drift off there.

The Cervello continues to explain, "All that remains are Cloud and Lightning."

"Eh? Remain?" asks Tsuna. Hibari shows up. "Hibari-san!" exclaims Tsuna.

"What do you want?" asks Hibari.

"'Want'?" asks Tsuna.

Sasagawa replies, "The same as us."

"Eh?" asks Tsuna.

I glance at Tsuna. "Did you forget?"

"The Cervello asked told the Guardians to come," explains Chrome.

The Cervello nods. "This is correct. We issued a compulsory summons to all surviving Guardians."

"'Compulsory summons'?" asks Tsuna.

Reborn replies, "They're here too."

Prince the Ripper laughs, "Shishishi…" He's in pretty bad shape still. He still has a crutch and is wrapped up in bandages all the way to his neck.

"Hm," says Mammon. He's all locked up in a thing that looks like a birdcage that's being held by Levi.

"Mammon!" exclaims Tsuna.

Basil exclaims, "Belphegor and Levi A Than!"

Suddenly, there's a high pitched wail from Lussuria, currently belted into a bed. "Treat me gently! I'm mortally wounded!" he complains. Well… more like whines.

"He's alive?" Sasagawa exclaims. He seems seriously shocked.

Gokudera asks, "Along with the bed?"

"Hello! It's been a while!" Lussuria sings. Then he turns to the woman holding up the bed. "You're so forceful! Be a little gentler!" _Mood swings?_

The Cervello says, "It seems that Sawada's Lightning Guardian is here as well."

"Could she mean…" starts Tsuna. We see a Cervello woman holding Lambo and an oxygen tank. "Lambo! W-Why is Lambo here?! He just regained consciousness!"

"The reason we issued compulsory summons is because the Sky Match risks all seven of the rings, as well as the Guardian's lives," explains the Cervello.

"The rings _and_ the Guardian's lives?" asks Tsuna.

"That's correct," says the Cervello.

Tsuna walks up to them. "Wait a second. What are you saying?" Suddenly, Tsuna's voice gets louder and angrier. " Lambo's injured! Give Lambo back!" _His voice got really forceful suddenly…_

"Please stand back. The situation is the same for the Varia," says the Cervello as she sticks out her arm out.

Lussuria says, "That's right!" He gasps for air. "Don't complain. When a summons is it issued, it's the Guardian's duty to show, no matter what their condition!"

"That's exactly right. I was waiting for Xanxus-sama's rage to cool and choose a time to assist," says Mammon.

Prince the Ripper lowers himself to look at Mammon. "Shishishi. Well said, Mammon. You were captured and weren't killed and now you're a chatterbox. Losers look so pathetic."

"Shut up, Bel-chan!" exclaims Lussuria.

"What about Squalo? Isn't he here?" asks Yamamoto.

The Cervello replies, "You are aware of how the Rain Match ended."

"Squalo's life was lost," the other one says to clarify. I note that Yamamoto's expression looks grim. He's too nice for his own good sometimes.

"Now, we shall begin the Sky Match," declares the Cervello.

"Wait, I haven't agreed to this yet!" Tsuna exclaims.

The Cervello replies bluntly, "If you don't, you will be disqualified and we will make Xanxus-sama the proper bearer of the ring." Tsuna glares at Xanxus. Gokudera shouts a curse at her.

"First, we will collect all of the Guardians' Rings," announces the Cervello.

Sasagawa exclaims in protest, "What? After all we've been through, you want us to return them?"

"If you are the true Guardian, then you should have nothing to worry about. In the end, the Vongola Rings always go to their true masters," retorts the Cervello. I roll my eyes. _Wonderful…_

"Please put your rings in this box," says the other one to Sasagawa. Sasagawa looks at his ring and groans.

Yamamoto holds up his ring. "There's no choice."

"I'm not satisfied with this," says Sasagawa. The Cervello goes down the line collecting the rings and I place mine the box as well. _What kind of competition could I possibly have if I didn't have any to begin with?_

"This side as well," commands the Cervello to the Varia.

When the Cervello reaches Hibari, he says, "I lost it."

"We already took custody of it," she replies.

"We have taken them into custody," the Cervello say at the same time.

"Now, let us explain the rules of the Sky Match. One of the conditions of victory is the same as the other Guardian's- the completion of the ring. The field this time is the entire school," says the Cervello.

"It's huge…" comments Yamamoto.

The Cervello continues, "To be able to view the entirety of the wide field, we've set up small cameras in various places as well as large displays other than the ones in the observation areas."

The other one holds up a wristband with a screen on it. "And we've prepared camera-equipped monitor wristbands." They get handed out and everyone puts them on.

"I see, it's a miniature T.V.," comments Sasagawa.

"Haha, it's a super close up of Tsuna," says Yamamoto. I hear Tsuna gasp and I stifle a laugh as I watch his expression on the screen. It doesn't mean that I'm not smiling though.

"Now, will each Guardian move to your match's field as soon as you have equipped the wristbands," Cervello orders in a manner that sounds as though we actually have a choice.

I ask one of them, "Must I lock myself in the freezer again?"

The Cervello shakes her head. "Leave the door open, if you'd like." I nod to show my understanding.

"Hm? The fields? What's going on now?" asks Levi.

The Cervello replies, "We will not answer any more questions. If you do not obey, you will be disqualified."

Gokudera grumbles, "Geez, that woman pisses me off."

I say to him in a hushed tone, "Watch your volume, they hear you."

"Seems like watching isn't all we'll do. I can't wait," comments Prince the Ripper with his ever present grin. I notice that he seems excited.

Sasagawa fake coughs loudly to get our attention. "Then this is our only time to do it," he says.

"Eh?" asks Tsuna.

"A circle," Yamamoto explains.

"Let's get our spirits up!" exclaims Gokudera.

Tsuna agrees a bit hesitantly. "Y-You're right."

Sasagawa turns to me, Hibari, and Chrome. "You guys can just stand there! We switched to the ten-meter rule."

"'The ten-meter rule'?" asks Tsuna.

"Anyone within ten meters is included the circle," explains Sasagawa. "It's an extreme rule."

"What's with that?" asks Gokudera.

I shake my head. "No, I'll join in the actual circle too." I walk over and I get weird looks. "It's the final one, so I might as well."

"Let's do it! Sawada! Fight!" shouts Sasagawa. We all start to leave.

"Then, I'll see you later," says Gokudera.

Chrome says, "Boss, be careful."

"Do your best," says Sasagawa.

Lambo mutters something in his sleep

"Don't push yourself," says Yamamoto.

"I'll be on my way then. Take care of yourself, Tsuna-san," I say with a smile. Hibari just walks away.

* * *

><p>I stare out the window, there's an extremely tall pillar right outside for some strange reason. I feel a bit at ease, seeing as it's only me. On the other hand, I'm in a freezer again. Yay. I stare at the monitor as the Cervello explains, "At the top of each of the poles set at the fields are the rings that match the field. Do as you wish. That is, if you can." Suddenly, there's a sharp pain from the wristband. I clench my eyes shut and suck in the air between my teeth.<p>

"The poison that has been built into all the wristbands have been injected into the Guardians," explains the Cervello. I gasp as I fall to the ground on my side.I feel my body hit the ground and absorbing all the impact. _It feels really hot. There's no way though. I'm in a freezer!_

"This poison called 'Death Heater' instantly attacks the nerves and even makes standing difficult. The burning, piercing, and pain will gradually increase, and in thirty minutes, they will die," explains the Cervello. I start to lose track of what they're saying. It hurts too much for me to concentrate. _If only I could concentrate, then this would be nothing… I wonder if they know that illusionists are particularly weak to pain._ My breathing is getting harder and I think I'm starting to sweat despite the fact that I'm in a freezer.

* * *

><p>I feel a tremor from the explosion, but I can't even tell what else is going on. It hurts to the point where I don't even want to open my eyes. <em>Is this the danger you were talking about? I really hope not, Mukuro-san.<em>

_"Oh? Why's that?" he asks._

_ In a case like this, my back-up won't help…So is this it?_

_ "No," he replies. _

_ Thank goodness…_

* * *

><p>It's getting hard to breathe now. I feel as though parts of me are frozen, but on fire at the same time. <em>Ahh…it sucks being in a freezer with a poison that makes you feel as though you're burning.<em> I feel someone take my hand and I hear the ring go into the slot in the wristband. The pain starts to fade and I open my eyes. "Hibari-san…?" I ask. I look at him blankly for a little. Then I smile at him. "Thanks. I owe you one. I thought that I was forgotten about completely." I sit up in the freezer and I start to shiver. Had I known that I was going to be back in here for so long, I would have worn more clothes than just a hoodie, a tee-shirt, a skirt, and my black combat boots.

"I can't have Discipline Committee members dying on school grounds. It would disturb the peace," he explains.

I smile a little. "Of course." He walks out slowly, he's limping. _He's pretty injured too…._ After Hibari is out of sight, I start a plan of my own as I glance at the monitor. _Perfect, only my ring is left._ As if it was timed, Prince the Ripper and Mammon come in. I resist the urge to smirk as they look around.

"Well, what have we here? It seems that your allies have forgotten all about you," comments Mammon. _It's working…_

"I know…" I mutter. "I'm sorry…"

"Oh? What are you sorry for?"

"Sorry that I didn't join you to begin with," I say between gasps of air.

"Shishishi, Mammon, we should just take the ring and leave," says Prince the Ripper.

I start to cough. "What use is a ring without the bearer…?" I gasp for air. "You won't find someone to replace me… There hasn't been a successor since Primo's time…"

"Hm, that's true," Mammon agrees.

I smile weakly. "See, you need me…So please…forgive me… and lend me a hand…"

"Fine. Bel, go get the ring and give her the antidote," says Mammon. Bel shrugs and gets the ring. As they kneel by my body I let the illusion go away. They gasp.

"Got you," I say from behind them. I pull out my knives and say, "Now, hand over the rings."

"Wow, you really are special," comments Mammon.

"Shishishi, even Mammon didn't notice. But…" says Prince the Ripper. Then they disappear too. _An illusion? Shoot, I wasn't paying attention since I thought that I had the upper-hand. _I look around carefully. _They're not around here…_ I glance at the monitor and start to run towards where Tsuna is.

* * *

><p>I manage to run into the others and we all go there together. "Tenth!" shouts Gokudera.<p>

Yamamoto shouts, "Tsuna!"

"Boss!" exclaims Chrome.

"Tsuna-san!" I exclaim. We all stop running and gasp as Prince the Ripper starts to put the Vongola ring on Xanxus' finger.

Prince the Ripper turns to us. "Shishishi. Thank you all for being the audience to the birth of the new boss."

Mammon pulls out the chain meant for holding the rings and says. "Vongola's greatest treasure, passed down through time. Give the young Blood of Vongola a great power." Mammon puts in the rings one by one. I hold onto mine tightly in my fist._ I guess they don't really need it._ The ring goes on Xanxus' finger and starts to sine very brightly. The other rings light up and add to the light show.

"T-This is…" starts Xanxus. Suddenly there's an explosion of light and he stands up, laughing in a psychopathic manner. "Power! An unending power is overflowing! This is proof of being the successor to the Vongola! Finally, finally! It's coming true! Now, I can become Vongola the Tenth!" Suddenly, he cries out in pain and the light starts to dim. It happens one more time then, the light goes out and Xanxus face plants.

"Boss!" exclaims Mammon.

"What's the matter, Boss?" asks Prince the Ripper.

Tsuna says quietly, "The Rings… Xanxus…They rejected Xanxus."

Mammon turns to Tsuna. "You know something. What do you mean, 'the Rings rejected him'?" Xanxus starts to get up. "Boss!" exclaims Mammon.

"I bet you feel good about yourself," comments Xanxus.

"Boss!" Prince the Ripper says as he helps Xanxus.

"That's right. The Ninth and I aren't real family!" exclaims Xanxus. Everyone's eyes seem to widen including mine.

The effects of the bullet go away and Tsuna says, "Xanxus…"

"Don't you dare feel sorry for me, you trash!" shouts Xanxus.

Suddenly Squalo's voice comes from the monitors. "The regret and the grudge caused by the betrayal. I know. "

Yamamoto exclaims, "Squalo!"

"So you lived, trash-shark. You know? What do you know about me? Don't talk to me as if you understand," says Xanxus.

"No, I know! I know!" replies Squalo.

"Knock it off. Then tell me, what do you know about me?!" shouts Xanxus. "What? You can't tell me?"

"That day, when you were frozen by the Ninth, I was still conscious. I heard. That time, you…After that, I did research on you. You were born into a working-class neighborhood in Italy and had power over flames since birth. It was all made possible by poverty. Your mother was entrapped by the delusion that you were born from Vongola the Ninth. And your mother brought you, who knew nothing about it, to the Ninth. You believed the Ninth's words and never doubted them. And soon, you were adopted by the Ninth and made it big as the Ninth's son. You grew up to be a man who had the dignity and the skill to become worthy to succeed the Ninth. However, you must have found out the truth at some point. It was around that time when I first saw you. With one look, I knew I couldn't beat you, and then I decided to follow that rage. And six months later…" says Squalo. "That's everything I know," he concludes.

"Pathetic. Pathetic," replies Xanxus.

"Wasn't the reason that the Ninth didn't kill you, even after being betrayed, was he wanted to accept you to the very end? The Ninth acknowledged you more than anyone else ever had. The Ninth thought of you as his real child," says Tsuna.

"Shut up! Disgusting, voluntary love is completely useless! All I want is the position of boss! All you trash have to do is revere me! Support me!" shouts Xauxus.

Gokudera says, "What a terrible guy."

"Shishishi. How cool," says Prince the Ripper.

"Love won't become money," says Mammon. The ring falls off Xanxus' finger.

The Cervello runs up to him. "Xanxus-sama, we must consult to determine if the Ring is suited to you."

"S-Shut up. If it won't come true, then I'll defeat everything in my path until it does!" he yells.

"Xanxus-sama!" exclaims the Cervello. They gasp.

"I agree, Boss. Let's do it," says Prince the Ripper taking out his knives.

"Just as planned," agrees Mammon. Gokudera's dynamite explodes between the two Varia officers and the Cervello.

"How rotten can you be? We won't let you!" declares Gokudera. The smoke clears to reveal all of us holding up our weapons.

"Shishishi. You all couldn't even die properly," says Prince the Ripper.

Hibari walks over. "Now we can finally settle things."

"What are you saying? You're wounded all over," replies Prince the Ripper. "Shishishi. There's absolutely no mistake. You're all going to die."

"Can't you see? It's two against six. The odds are against you," replies Gokudera.

"Two against six? What are you talking about? Your opponents are a force several times larger than this. An elite Varia squad with at least fifty members will be here any moment," says Mammon.

"What are you saying?" asks Sasagawa.

Mammon explains, "The Boss called support to deal with everything involved with this incident after he won. They are elites only second to us in fighting prowess."

Yamamoto's eyes widen. "Everything involved in this incident?"

"Could he mean….?" starts Tsuna. _Wow, this is quite the dangerous situation we're in, Mukuro-san…_

_"Kufufufu, he's already almost there. Don't worry._"

_Thank you. I owe you again, Mukuro-san._ I smile a little.

"What are you doing smiling in a situation like this?" Gokudera asks quietly.

I shake my head, but I don't stop smiling. "You'll see." I notice that he doesn't accuse me of betraying Tsuna and my smile grows a little.

"Please wait a moment," says the Cervello.

The other continues, "We cannot allow outside interference during the match."

"Hm? I don't care," replies Prince the Ripper.

One of them steps closer to him. "But-" She gets slashed and falls to the ground.

"They finally did it," says Dr. Shamal from the viewing area.

"If that's how they're gonna act, then we can support Tsuna's side! Let us out, kora!" exclaims Colonello.

The Bucking Bronco says, "In that case, you shouldn't have any complaints!"

"I shall fight as well," declares Basil.

"Very well. We will disqualify the Varia's side and turn off the observation area's infrared sensors," says the remaining Cervello, backing up a little. _Wimp_…

"Let's go, kora!" says Colonello.

"Wait," says Reborn. Leon turns into a pair of goggles. "It hasn't been turned off."

"We worked on those," says Mammon. "We intended to kill them all in that cage."

"What?" asks the Bronco

Dr. Shamal says, "They already took the first step."

"Out of the way. I'm going to break through!" exclaims Colonello.

"It's useless. It is set to explode when attacked from the inside," the Cervello warns.

"What?" asks Colonello.

"We can't lift a finger," explains Reborn.

Gokduera curses. "Then we'll have to do it on our own."

"Eh? Someone is coming?" asks Chrome, pressing a hand against her ear. I smirk. Suddenly, three Varia officers show up.

"Shishi. Nice timing," comments Prince the Ripper. "We've been waiting."

Two the three officers collapse. "Reporting: the entire Varia squad, except us, has defeated. He was too strong. A man with the strength of a demon is headed this way." He others start to gape and I continue to smile.

"Violent Snake Fierce Domination!" shouts a familiar voice. The smoke goes away and reveals Lancia. Prince the Ripper and Mammon gasp.

"This is…That man is the one that Mukuro-sama kept talking to," says Chrome. _Wrong, that was me._

"H-He's…" starts Gokudera.

"Don't get me wrong, Vongola. I didn't come to save you. I came to thank you," says Lancia.

"L-Lancia-san!" exclaims Tsuna.

"Why is he…" starts Ken.

"'Lancia'?" asks Mammon. "Why is _that_ Lancia here?"

"What is he?" asks Prince the Ripper.

Squalo explains, "Known as the strongest man in northern Italy- Lancia, of the Family Murder Incident."  
>"Is he that strong?" asks Ken.<p>

Chikusa replies, "He is."

"He has no hesitation. He fights of his own will and won't be controlled by another," says Reborn.

"Shishishi. So that's how it is," says Prince the Ripper. He throws his knives. "Then let's get this over with!"

Then get knocked out of the way by Yamamoto's sword. "Hold on, it's not going to work like that," says Yamamoto.

"Yamamoto!" exclaims Tsuna.

"I didn't think it'd turn out like this," says Mammon. Mammon starts to flee, but Chrome's illusion hits Mammon.

"I won't let you escape," says Chrome.

Hibari opens up the segment in his tonfas that lets out a flail. "Hey. Let's end this," says Hibari.

"I won't let you go!" declares Sasagawa.

I pull out more knives and shift into an offensive stance. "You'll never get past me."

Gokudera runs up to Tsuna. "Tenth! Are you injured?"

"Thank you. I'm fine," replies Tsuna.

"Then…" Gokudera stands up and holds up his dynamite.

Prince the Ripper drops his knives and raises his hands. "This is no good."

"Boss, looks like this is it," says Mammon.

* * *

><p>"Now, we will end the Ring Conflict and announce the results. Due to Xanxus-sama's disqualification, the winner of the Sky Match is Sawada, Tsunayoshi," announces the Cervello. Everyone looks a little happy, at the very least. Even Hibari. "Thus the ones who will become the eventual successors of the Vongola will be Sawada, Tsunayoshi and his seven Guardians."<p>

Tsuna looks really happy. "Everyone…" he whispers. Then he collapses.

"Sawada-dono!" shouts Basil.

"Tenth!" exclaims Gokudera.

"Tsuna!" shouts Yamamoto. We all run up to Tsuna.

I cross my arms. "Relax, he's just exhausted." Hibari starts to walk away. Then Chrome, looking relieved, walks away as well.

* * *

><p>I laugh a little as Lambo and I-Pin yell at each other. Now its morning time, and everyone in the Sawada household, excluding Tsuna, is gathered together. Fuuta, Lambo, and I-Pin are all climbing on Lancia. It's nice to fool around every once in a while. I'm even taking today off because I want to relax a bit. No more laying around in freezers for me. Then Tsuna steps in, still in his pajamas. "I'll be in your care for now," Lancia says to Tsuna.<p>

"Lancia-san!" exclaims Tsuna. "T-Thank you for yesterday! But why?"

"We'll talk about that later," replies Lancia. _That's right… I still have to talk to him about that too…_

"Tsuna-nii, good morning!" says Fuuta.

"Tsuna you sleepyhead! It's already snack time!" exclaims Lambo as he tugs on Lanchia's mouth. Lancia doesn't look amused.

"Tsuna, you should change too," says his mother.

"We're going out," explains Reborn.

"Eh? Going out where?" asks Tsuna.

Reborn replies, "A party."

"Party?" asks Tsuna.

"Party, party! Lambo-san loves parties!" Lambo exclaims happily. Lancia looks so out of place with children hanging on him.

"Banquet, banquet with everyone!" exclaims I-Pin.

"Did you already forget what happened yesterday?" asks Tsuna's mother. "Something worth celebrating happened."

"Eh? Yesterday?" asks Tsuna. He looks a little scared.

His mom replies, "Lambo-kun came back from the hospital."

"Oh, that!" says Tsuna, he looks a bit relieved.

Reborn says, "We're getting together at Yamamoto's house."

"Eh? Yamamoto's?" asks Tsuna. _Why Yamamoto's house though…?_

* * *

><p>As it turns out, Yamamoto's father owns a sushi place. As everyone is busy partying, I pull Lancia to the side and we decide to go outside to talk. "Lancia-san," I say.<p>

He smiles a little. "It's you. I never expected to see you with the mafia. You were working for Mukuro, weren't you?"

I nod. "Yes, last time we met, I was. But, unlike Mukuro-san, I was able to find it in myself work with the mafia," I reply.

He nods. "Glad to hear it. It's been a while, but you still look like a little doll being so skinny, with pale skin, and long dark hair," he comments.

He pats my head and I laugh a little, feeling as though I'm treated like a little kid. "Thank you. But I should be the one thanking you. You followed the message I sent you after all."

His eyes widen. "It was you?" he asks. I nod. "That makes sense… You were always one to leave weird hints."

"It's easier for me that way," I reply. "Still… thank you, Lancia-san."

He nods. "It's no problem. I'm just glad that I was able to help the Vongola."

I nod. "I'll see you some other time then, Lancia-san. Thanks again. If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, I'll be glad to do business with you whenever and wherever it maybe."

"Okay," he says with a nod. Basil comes out and they start to walk away. _It seems like everyone is gathering together, all because of Tsuna. What an influential person._


	13. Chapter 13

Author's Note: Okay! Some filler chapters…

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I look blankly at the invitation that was slipped under my room door. I open it up and stare at the invitation that has a pink heart on it. <em>A wedding…?<em> I glance at the names of the couple and I look around for cameras or something. _Is this a joke?_ I walk over to the door and open it to see if anyone's there- there's no one. Everyone seems to be downstairs. I pick up my cell phone as it starts to ring. "Hello?"

"Saito-chan! This is Sasagawa, Kyoko. Do you want to come over to get ready for the wedding with us?" she asks.

"Hello, Sasagawa-san… Um, yeah… sure…" I reply unsurely.

* * *

><p>I walk to Sasagawa's house. I look around first before I ring the doorbell. Sasagawa opens the door and smiles. "I'm glad you can make it! Are you going to change here?"<p>

"Ah, that the thing… I don't own a dress," I explain.

She frowns a little. "Hm…" Then her expression brightens. "You can borrow one of ours!"

I smile a little and reply, "Sure… Thank you." I follow her into the house and walk upstairs to her room with her. It's very girly compared to any of the rooms that I've ever stayed in before. Mine tend to look very simple and plain. Then again, I've never stayed anywhere for too long either.

"Saito-chan!" Miura exclaims.

I nod at her. "Miura-san," I reply in greeting. Kurokawa nods at me in greeting and I nod back.

Sasagawa explains, "Saito-chan doesn't own any dresses so, do you have any that would look good on her?"

"Hm…" Miura stares at me with so much concentration that I start to feel a bit uncomfortable. Suddenly she exclaims, "I've got it!" she starts to dash out. "I'm going to run back home to get some things!" I laugh a little. _She's so energetic._

Kurokawa replies more calmly than Miura, "I think I may have something. I'll head back home to look too then. I'll see you soon, Kyoko, Saito." Then she walks out too.

Sasagawa smiles. "Do you want to help me look?" I nod and follow her. I'm smiling though. It's been a while since I've been able to do something purely for fun. It feels nice. Normal.

"How about this one?" I ask. It's the seventh dress that I've tried on. All of Kurokawa's dresses were the wrong size and Miura's are turning out to be a bit too girly.

Kurokawa stares at the dress for a bit and shakes her head. "Don't you think that it's a little too frilly and pink?"

Sasagawa nods. "Yeah, it doesn't really suit Saito-chan as well as it suits you, Haru-chan." _Onto the next one then… _I don't really get the point of what we're doing right now, but they seem to be having fun so I don't really mind. Hm, weird…

* * *

><p>I stand there a bit sheepishly in an ice-blue dress that looks like Sasagawa's that they all decided looks best on me. We continue to walk towards Tsuna's house. I keep getting weird looks from Gokudera and Yamamoto. I guess it's because I don't normally dress like this. Whatever.<p>

"Tsuna-kun!" Sasagawa calls out.

"Yo, Tsuna!" greets Yamamoto.

"Tenth! We've come to escort you!" exclaims Gokudera.

"Tsuna-kun, let's all go to the ceremony hall together!" says Sasagawa.

"Huh?" asks Tsuna.

"What? You're not ready yet?" asks Kurokawa.

"What do you mean, ceremony-" starts Tsuna.

"What are you going on about Sawada?" asks the Sun Guardian.

"Reborn-chan and Bianchi-san's ceremony wedding hall!" exclaims Miura.

"Even though she's _that_ sort of sister, I need to be sincerely happy for her," says Gokudera. I look at him blankly, but I don't say anything. _What's that supposed to mean?_

"Eh…? EHHHHHHHH?! Then this is real?!" shouts Tsuna.

I smile a little as I ask, "You thought it was a joke too, Tsuna-san?" _Oh good, I thought that I was the only one._

* * *

><p>We all walk to the ceremony hall together and when we get there, we all go to visit Bianchi first. Bianchi really does look nice though. She looks pretty happy as well. <em>She's only seventeen though, is having a wedding at that age appropriate or even legal? Plus, Reborn is in baby form… Does no one else find this weird?<em> "Beautiful," comments Mirua. I'm actually a bit creeped out by her right now. There are visible sparkles around her and she has a weird, dreamy expression on. I inch away slowly

"It really is wonderful!" Sasagawa exclaims.

Kurokawa crosses her arms and says, "The beauty of an adult woman."

"She's seriously beautiful," says Tsuna. His eyes are wide.

Bianchi smiles. "Thank you. I always wanted to be a June bride," says Bianchi. _It's the middle of winter right now… _

"A June bride? That's so nice!" Miura exclaims happily.

"I'd like to be one too!" Sasagawa agrees. _I'm so lost right now…_ I look around blankly.

"A June bride gets married in June! It's not June!" shouts Tsuna. _Took the words right out of my thoughts…_

"It's fine. When an adult woman gets married it's always June," replies Kurokawa. _What kind of messed up logic is that?_

Sasagawa and Miura turn to each other with smiles and say at the same time, "Right?"

The Sun Guardian being…well himself, exclaims, "It's just like how I'm always extreme!"

"DON'T MAKE THOSE TWO SEEM SIMILAR TURF HEAD!" shouts the ever so bright Gokudera, facing the door.

The older Sasagawa asks loudly, "What was that Octopus Head?!"

"Come on, you two. We should celebrate today, don't fight," says Tsuna. Then, Tsuna stops as though he realized something and asks, "Huh? Gokudera-kun, you're alright in front of Bianchi-san?"

"Yes Tenth! With these sunglasses, I can't see at all!" replies Gokudera as he looks at Yamamoto.

"What is it, Gokudera? Tsuna's over there," says Yamamoto, pointing towards Tsuna.

"Over here?" Gokudera asks. He turns to me.

I roll my eyes. "Yes, of course Gokudera. I'm Tsuna-san," I reply.

* * *

><p>I walk into Reborn's dressing room after hearing Tsuna shout out in panic. I stop as I hear someone else's voice say. "It's alright. It's a doll." It's the Bucking Bronco.<p>

"A doll? Then Reborn's…" starts Tsuna.

The Bronco finishes, "Not here. Actually, he probably ran."

"He ran?" asks Tsuna. I lean against the wall and continue to listen through the closed door.

"Yeah, I called Reborn to congratulate him this morning…" says the Bronco. Then he starts to repeat what Reborn said. I open the door quietly and slip in. I stick around for the rest of their little explanation unnoticed.

I start to smirk as I finally call out. "Wow, what a nice plan." I lean against the wall next to the door and cross my arms.

They all turn around and look at me with wide eyes. "Kori-chan?!" Tsuna exclaims.

"Ice Princess-sama!" exclaims Giannini.

I continue to smirk. "Hello. So, I hear that you'll be needing cover… Leave it to me," I say. "My illusions are top-class, but I won't think of things on a whim so…good luck."

I watch as the Bronco nudges and says in a not so discreet manner, "Tsuna, what kind of Guardian did you get yourself?"

"Only the best the world has to offer," I reply. "Just be happy that I'm not charging fees since you're both working together."

* * *

><p>"Bianchi-san, do you swear to take this man as your husband?" asks the priest. His voice is very monotone and solemn.<p>

Bianchi replies, "I do."

The priest continues, "Reborn-san, do you swear to take this woman as your bride?" There's silence and I stare at the Bronco. _What is he doing? Press the button. The doll won't reply on its own._

Yamamoto nudges me and asks quietly, "Is something wrong? You look a bit worried."

I smile a bit and shake my head. "It's nothing."

"Reborn-san?" the priest asks, still with a monotone voice. Murmurs start to go around the room.

There's the soft beep of the button being pressed and the doll says, "I do."

"Please exchange rings," the priest continues. The doll's arm falls off after the ring is put on Bianchi. I hear Tsuna shout.

"Not good!" Dino exclaims.

Suddenly, Tsuna stands up and points at the ceiling. "Ah! A flying saucer is throwing a discus!" _Seriously?_ I make an illusion depicting what Tsuna said.

"Ehh?!" exclaim the people in the room. They stare in awe at my illusion.

As Tsuna fixes the doll's arm, Bianchi, who is obviously not distracted, asks, "Tsuna, what are you doing?" I make the flying saucer do some weird aerial tricks to try and distract Bianchi, but it doesn't work.

"N-Nothing at all!" I hear Tsuna stammer.

"Hm?" Bianchi looks unconvinced, but she turns back to look at the aerial tricks. I make the saucer seem to teleport away so that the ceremony can continue.

* * *

><p>"Cheers!" we all shout as we clink our glasses together. I place the glass back down. Underage drinking is bad. I smile and ask the waiter for a glass of water politely. I look at Dr. Shamal blankly as he guzzles his drink in one shot and exclaims sadly, "You left me, and went and got married!" When the waitress passes by though, his expression brightens and he exclaims, "Little lady, marry me!" He tries to grab the waitress, who is return, dodges easily.<p>

I chuckle and Gokudera gives me a weird look behind his sunglasses. "What's with you?"

"What do you mean by that?" I ask.

"You sound really happy today."

"Is that wrong?" I ask. Of course, it's a rhetorical question. I stand up and place the glass of alcohol in front of him. "Take it, there'll be lots of disappointment for you today."

"My, Ice Princess, it's been a while. Why don't you stay so we can chat a bit?" he suggests.

I walk away. "I'm thirteen, you pedophile," I say coldly.

"Cold as ever…" he mutters. "Love knows no age!"

"Then go find someone interested," I reply. I sit back down next to Gokudera and I-Pin.

The host says, "Now, let us move onto the entertainment. First, Reborn-san's friend, Takezushi-san's acrobatic sushi."

The spotlight shines down on Yamamoto and his father. Yamamoto's father says, "Reborn-san, Bianchi-san, congratulations on your marriage! We are awkward, and this is all we can do for you. Please enjoy it!" He pulls the cloth off dramatically and exclaims, "Let's go, Takeshi!"

"Yeah!" exclaims Yamamoto. He tosses a fish upwards. "Old man!" Everyone is in awe as Yamamoto's father jumps up cuts the fish up with amazing speed and skill. _I wouldn't mind learning under him… His skill with knives is amazing…_

"Dance of Falling Sashimi!" Yamamoto's father exclaims. When he lands on the floor, the sashimi falls neatly onto the platter. There are lots of "Ooh"'s and "Ahhh"'s. "Let's do the next one, Takeshi!" Yamamoto's father exclaims.

"Yeah! There, there, there!" Yamamoto exclaims as he tosses up six fish this time. A lot of good looking food is made. There are cheers and lots of applause. My eyes widen a little as Bianchi pours the drink into the doll's mouth. _That can't be good._

Tsuna shouts in panic again and Dino exclaims, "Not good!"

Giannini exclaims, "You can't introduce water into a precision machine!"

The doll starts to exclaim, "Shaaaaa! Shanenenenenenene!" I look at it blankly. _What the heck? I know It's short-circuiting, but still…what's with the weird sounds…?_ The doll continues, "Nenenenene! Nya!" Then, it jumps into the fish tank.

"Eh?!" Tsuna exclaims.

"What?" Yamamoto's father asks. I watch with slight amusement as the doll starts to jump out of the tank like a dolphin.

Next to me, Gokudera stands up and exclaims, "WHAT"S GOING ON, TENTH?!" I feel bad for the confused looking waiter as Gokudera continues to shout for Tsuna in his face.

"Looks like fun! Lambo-san wants to swim too!" exclaims Lambo.

I shake my head and say, "No you don't."

"No you can't!" exclaims Tsuna. He looks at me as if to ask for help. I smile and nod. Guess I'll fix the minor problems first. I smile apologetically at the waiter. "Please excuse his behavior. He's blind right now." The waiter nods slowly and leaves. I turn to Gokudera now. "Geez, sit down. Don't embarrass yourself. You'll give me a bad reputation because I hang around you. There's only a commotion because Reborn-san is acting weird."

I see Bianchi in the front with a visible killing aura around her. "Reborn wouldn't do something like this," she growls. She pulls out two guns and shouts, :"Where is Reborn?! WHO HID HIM?!"

Tsuna shouts, "Not good! It's over!"

The Bronco runs up to the tank and pulls Reborn out of the tank. With a smile he says, "Poison Scorpion."

"Where is Reborn?" she asks automatically.

"Hahahaha," the Bronco laughs awkwardly. "Look here," he explains, "Reborn just slipped because he was nervous about the wedding."

Tsuna agrees, "T-That's right. There's no mistake, that's Reborn."

She turns around to look at Tsuna. "'Nervous'?" she repeats. Bianchi drops the guns and Tsuna flinches. Suddenly she starts to nuzzle Reborn. "I'm sorry, Reborn!" Tsuna looks really confused. Bianchi continues, "I didn't realize how you felt! Forgive me, Reborn!"

The host announces, "Due to a love-filled happening, the groom is soaking wet. Now, the groom will change into new clothes." I take that as my cue to follow.

* * *

><p>I stand by the wall and drink a glass of water as Giannini fixes the doll. Tsuna seems relieved. "I thought we were done for," he comments as he watches Giannini fix the doll.<p>

"It just shorted out because of the water," Giannini explains. "Don't worry. I made it, after all!"

Suddenly, Gokudera's voice says, "So, it really us a fake. You can trick my sister, but not me." I turn to look at him. He looks a bit mad.

"Gokudera-kun!" exclaims Tsuna, obviously scared.

"My ears work really well. I came here after I heard suspicious motor sounds," says Gokudera, walking up to Tsuna. _It wasn't because the Bronco was holding a remote the entire time?_

"Well…umm…." Tsuna starts, looking panicked now.

"Let me…." Gokudera starts, he looks really mad now. "Let me also help out, Tenth!" says Gokudera with a grin. He gives Tsuna a thumbs-up._ What?_

Tsuna asks, "Huh?"

"I had guessed that my sister forced him into a wedding ceremony and left a substitute anyways," Gokudera explains in a haughty way. "Now that I'm here, you can relax." He walks up to Dino, and says," Give it!" He takes the remote from the Bronco and explains, "This is my duty as the Tenth's right hand-man."

"You…" starts Dino. I shake my head, signaling the Bronco to give up.

"Gokudera-kun, are you sure you can with those sunglasses that you can't see through?" asks Tsuna.

"I'll be fine. I'll take them off from time to time and peek with my eyes half closed! Is this how you control it?" he asks as he presses a button. The doll starts to walk around saying, "Ciaossu."

* * *

><p>On the way back towards the reception room, I get a phone call. I pick up. "Hello?"<p>

"Kori-ne! It's me, Fuuta!" says Fuuta on the other end.

I start, "Huh? F-"

"Wait! Don't say my name. I have a surprise to tell you, but we need your help," Fuuta explains.

Tsuna gives me a weird look. "'F-'?" he asks.

I cover the speaker with my hand and whisper. "The request was in Florence, Italy." He nods in understanding. I take my hand off the speaker and reply. "I see… Please, go on, Sir."

Fuuta giggles. "We just need your help making sure it works out. I'm bringing Papa! When the Reborn's come flooding out, we'll be ready, but you have to hide the thing that we're going to come down in!" he explains. "My rankings say that you're one of the only three people whose illusions can trick the Vindice. So, this should be easy for you."

"Really? I had no idea," I reply. My eyes widen a little. The other person is Mukuro, leaving one more person who can trick the Vindice with their illusions. "Anyhow, Sir, I'll look forward to meeting with again you in the future. I'll be looking forward to be doing business with you again."

Fuuta giggles again. "Kori-ne! I'll see you later then! Thank you!" Then, he hangs up.

* * *

><p>It's been pure chaos. Bianchi is so mad now. But I wait there patiently, having trust in Fuuta. Suddenly, the door opens and a Reborn says, "Hold on!"<p>

Tsuna exclaims, "Reborn!" I smile a little as a flood of Reborns show up, all saying the same thing- "Hold on."_ That's my cue._ I look at the ceiling and see Fuuta along with Tsuna's father on a box thing. Fuuta waves and I smile. I cover it with an illusion and wait, continuing to watch what Reborn planned. "Ehh?! Lots of Reborns?!" Tsuna exclaims.

"Hold on!" the Reborns continue to say.

Miura exclaims, "A flood of Reborn-chans!"

For once, the older Sasagawa is so awed that he says in a normal volume, "This is extreme."

"Reborn-kun has so many siblings," comments Sasagawa. She looks puzzled.

"This is impossible. What's going on?" asks Tsuna. He turns to me. "Are you doing this, Kori-chan?"

I shake my head. "I would never thing to do something like this…" I mutter. I seriously wouldn't.

Giannini explains, "These are the failures that I made."

"'Failures'?" Tsuna asks.

"Yes," Giannini replies sadly. "Number one had abnormalities in its memory circuits. Number two has a warped body. Number three had problems with its emotional circuits. Anyway, they're all failures!"

Tsuna asks, "So why are they here?"

"Now," starts the Reborns. "Which one is the real me?"

"Eh?" Bianchi asks.

The Reborns explain, "If you love me, you'll find the real me!"

"Reborn…" Bianchi starts. "I know." Bianchi looks really concentrated and everyone looks in anticipation. She closes her eyes. "I found you. You are my beloved." She picks one of the Reborns up and everyone seems surprised and shocked.

"Bianchi…" starts Reborn(?).

"Reborn…" Bianchi replies.

Reborn(?) continues, "You missed." Her eyes widen as the Reborn head pops off with a spring attached to it.

"AAAH!" Tsuna exclaims.

From the other side of the room, Reborn's voice says, "The real me…" Everyone turns to the host, who seems to be the one talking. "is right here!" The head of the host opens up to reveal Reborn. He greets, "Ciaossu!"

Tsuna exclaims, "R-Reborn!"

"You've still got a lot to learn, Bianchi," says Reborn.

Bianchi looks a bit mad again. "Reborn…"

"Not good! Bianchi's mad again!" Tsuna exclaims.

"I understand," Bianchi replies with a smile, "Thank you, Reborn. This was still too soon for me." Bianchi pulls off the wedding gown to reveal normal clothing underneath.

"Ehhh?!" Tsuna exclaims. "What's going to happen with the reception?!"

Reborn replies, "It's alright, but the main cast is going to change." The wedding gown goes to Tsuna's mother.

"My, my," says Tsuna's mother.

"AHHHH!" Tsuna shouts.

Reborn comments, "You haven't even begun to be surprised." I take that as my cue to take the illusion away. I let the illusion go.

"Tsuna-nii!" exclaims Fuuta from above. The lights dim and the colorful lights from above shine on Tsuna's father and Fuuta. "I brought Papa!"Fuuta exclaims happily.

"Nana!" Tsuna's father calls out.

Tsuna exclaims, "Dad?"

Tsuna's mother gasps in surprise. "Dear?" she asks happily.

In the end, Reborn set the whole thing up so that Tsuna's mother could get a proper wedding photo with Tsuna's father. I thought that it was really nice of him to do so, but I would never say something like that out loud. It was fun doing something like that though. I didn't have to worry about fighting or anything. I enjoyed myself.


	14. Chapter 14

Author's Note: If you pickpocket Kori, all you get are…knives…?

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>"I'll be looking forward to doing business with you again, Sir," I say as there is a deposit in my account.<p>

"Yes, yes, of course," replies the man on the other end of the call. I hang up and start to head out to withdraw the money so I can transfer it to my other account.

I walk downstairs and call out, "I'm heading out to the bank!" Then I continue to walk out the door. _Hm, what was the next job that I had to do again? Was it for that woman in France or that man in England…? Or was it for that older man in America?_ I sigh. Suddenly, I feel as though I'm missing something. My hand goes to my thigh, where I hide knives under my skirt and I realize that I knife is missing. _Weird…_ I look around to see if it dropped out, but there's nothing on the floor. I shrug to myself and continue to walk.

As I round the corner, I hear a male cry out in pain, "Arrrrggghhhh! What kind of girl carries something like this?!" I choose to ignore it. _Weirdo…_

* * *

><p>I look blankly at Tsuna's mother as she says, "I'm sorry, everyone."<p>

Tsuna exclaims, "Eh?!"

"Oh?" asks Reborn.

"Eh?" Bianchi asks.

Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta's bowls and utensils drop to the floor as Fuuta starts, "No way…"

"There's no dinner?" Fuuta, Lambo, and I-Pin all ask at the same time.

Tsuna's mother looks upset. "I'm sorry."

Lambo and I-Pin jump onto the table next to Tsuna's mother and Lambo asks, "Why? Why? Why?!"

"Why? What happened?" asks I-Pin.

Tsuna's mother sighs and replies, "I think my wallet was pickpocketed. They got me when I was out for a little bit._ Oh…maybe that's why my knife when missing… Haha._

"Oh no," says Tsuna. "Even though your wallet was taken, we still have savings, right?"

"Well…" Tsuna's mother starts. "Your dad just used it all getting the solid gold pick and shovel he was after." _That's so… stupid…_

Tsuna exclaims, "That stupid old man! How could he?!" I sigh. _Is he really the boss of CEDEF?_

Tsuna's mother continues to explain, "I heard that there was a lot of pickpocketing and bag-snatching around here lately, but I thought I was being careful."

I watch as the others excluding Tsuna all get ready and look like they're about to kill someone. "We'll tear him apart," they say.

"Their hearts are as one! And Fuuta too!" Tsuna exclaims.

I nudge Tsuna and whisper, "Are we the only sane ones left?" _Then again, if I was paid to…_ I shake my head. _No one is going to pay me to do such a thing._

Tsuna looks panicked now. "Hold on! Calm down! I'll give you my cup noodles!" he exclaims. They all stop and turn around. The massive killing intent gone.

"I like pork bone," says Bianchi.

"I like miso," replies Reborn with a smile.

"Seafood for me," declares Lambo, who's grinning now.

I-Pin says with her normal smile back, "Yakisoba is the best."

"I'm an odon fan, Tsuna-nii," Fuuta says with a bright smile.

I sit back in my chair, "Since you offered, I'd like a spicy one, if you'd please," I say.

"You too?" asks Tsuna.

* * *

><p>The last cup gets filled with water and Tsuna's mother says, "I'm sorry, everyone. I'll get Dad's pay tomorrow, so bear with it for today."<p>

"Is that…pay from the Vongola Family?" asks Tsuna. "Seems complicated…" he mutters.

"Don't worry, Mama," says Reborn, "I'll escort you starting tomorrow, so you won't be pickpocketed."

"Leave it to us," says Bianchi with confident smile.

"Thank you, that so dependable of you!" Tsuna's mother replies happily.

Reborn adds, "Tsuna's gonna do it to."

"W-Why me?" asks Tsuna.

"This is social reform," explains Reborn. "It's part of the mafia's duty to take care of bad guys."

I sigh. "If Tsuna-san must help then I must too since I work under him now." I nod. "Okay, I'll do my best then."

"Anyways, I can't wait for tomorrow," replies Bianchi. _She must be bored…_

"Mama, I'll do my best too!" Fuuta declares happily.

"Leave it to I-Pin!"

"I'll show them how scary Lambo-sama is! Nuhahahaha!"

Reborn declares, "Then it's settled, let's eat Tsuna's cup noodles and go to bed!"

"Yeah!"

* * *

><p>As we walk down the street in the shopping district, people give us wary andor scared looks. I trail behind them with Tsuna. "Hey, you shouldn't be walking around thirsting for blood! That's embarrassing!" exclaims Tsuna. His mother on the other hand, is smiling happily.

"It wouldn't be much of an escort if we didn't," replies Reborn. He's smiling now.

"Now we're just sticking out too much. No matter how you look at it, this looks odd," Tsuna mutters.

Reborn says, "Well, it would be boring if the one we need to punish is too scared to come out." Suddenly, something seems to catch his eye and he jumps over to a coffee shop. "Mama! I want to drink coffee made with this store's coffee beans!" _Reborn is easily distracted by coffee…?_

"Okay, then let's buy some," replies Tsuna's mother.

Lambo jumps up and exclaims, "Lambo-san wants this soft-serve ice cream!"

"All right then." Tsuna's mother continues to smile.

"That smells really good," says I-Pin as she points at a cart selling sweet chestnuts.

Tsuna's mother says, "Oh, I-Pin-chan wants sweet chestnuts. Alright."

Fuuta points to the cart next to that and says, "Mama, this place's hard-baked rice crackers are ranked tenth."

The children start tugging on Tsuna's mother in all different directions. "Soft-serve ice cream!"

"Don't pull so much…"

"Hard-baked rice crackers!"

"Sweet chestnuts! Sweet chestnuts!"

"Coffee first!" _I wonder how Mama has that much patience…_

Tsuna exclaims, "Why did you even bother coming?!" He sighs.

Bianchi crosses her arms. "They're all such children." Suddenly she runs over to the pet store and stares at the sloth. "Oh? This is perfect for Poison Cooking."

Tsuna exclaims, "Don't eat the sloth!"

"This way!"

"This way first!"

"Soft-serve ice cream!"

"Hard-baked rice crackers!" Tsuna's mother gets pulled around in all different directions and I sigh.

* * *

><p>Finally, they all get what they want. "Did you all get what you wanted?" asks Mama. Actually, I went off on my own for a bit to buy myself more clothing with some of my income. I hold onto the shopping bags and Tsuna looks at me blankly.<p>

"Clothing," I explain. He nods.

"Yes!" they reply.

"Tsu-kun, is there something you want?" asks Mama.

Tsuna replies, "Eh? Not me." Suddenly he seems lost in thought. I look at him blankly.

"Tsuna-kun!" Sasagawa calls out. Tsuna, still lost in thought, starts to blush.

"It's Tsuna-san!" exclaims Miura.

I give them a small wave. "Sasagawa-san, Miura-san," I greet.

"Hello, Saito-chan!" they say.

Tsuna says to himself, "No, it was nothing."

"Tsuna-san," I say quietly. I wave my hand in front of his face.

Suddenly he snaps out of his thoughts. "Oh… Eh? Kyoko-chan! Haru!" he exclaims.

"What are you doing here?" asks Sasagawa.

Tsuna starts, "W-Well…"

"Oh, hello!" greets Mama.

Sasagawa asks Mama, "Out shopping together?"

"That's right," replies Mama.

I jump out of the way as Miura wraps her arm around Tsuna's. "How lucky am I to meet Tsuna-san while I'm out shopping? We must be connected by a red strand of string."

Tsuna jumps back and shakes his head frantically. "We're not connected! We're just not!" _Wow, that was blunt…_

Miura starts to dig through her large bag. "Ah! Good timing! There was something I wanted to show Tsuna-san."

"Huh? Show me?" asks Tsuna.

"Ta-da!" exclaims Miura, now dressed in a namahage costume. "This is the new namahage costume I'm going to wear at the next culture festival!"

Tsuna exclaims, "You're going to be namahage again?!"

"It has fins on the back like a monster!" Miura continues to exclaim happily.

"You really shouldn't wear that…" mutters Tsuna. I still can't get over how weird this group is. Suddenly, Bianchi's snake yells somehow and a man with light hair screams and falls to the ground.

"What were you doing to my precious cooking ingredient?" asks Bianchi. The man on the floor continues to tremble.

Tsuna runs over to him. "Are you alright?" he asks the man. Then he turns to Bianchi. "Hey, Bianchi!"

"I gave up on the sloth and went with the python," she replies. She shakes the snake around a bit. "This one seemed tastier," she explains.

Tsuna starts to bow to the man. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

"Shut up! Go away!" exclaims the man, he still looks frightened.

I nudge Tsuna and ask quietly, "Should I torment him a little with illusions for being so rude to you, Tsuna-san?" I'm seriously considering it right now. _Shoot, I should stop hanging around Gokudera so much… _

"Kori-chan, you sound like Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna starts. "Don't worry about it, he's probably just scared…" I nod.

Suddenly, I-Pin jumps in front of him and keeps starting at the man. "Huh? What's with you?" he asks.

"A wooden man doll!" I-Pin exclaims suddenly.

"Huh?" asks the man.

Tsuna repeats, "A wooden man doll?"

"I thought we lost them!" I-Pin explains. "It's been a while."

Reborn explains more clearly, "They were dolls I-Pin used instead of sandbags when she was training."

"That's this person?" asks Tsuna. "No, I-Pin, this person was just walking by." It's too late though, I-Pin uses her Gyoza Fist technique on the man and I just watch blankly. "Too late."

The man flies off and disappears into the sky. "Was that a street performance?" asks Mama.

"He was jumping around on his own. What an amusing person," comments Sasagawa.

"Really?" I ask. "Don't you mean psychopathic…? That's what I would think."

"Dangerous and strange," says Miura.

I see Tsuna let out a sigh and a walk over to him. "Don't worry, I can always cover it with an illusion if you'd like," I say reassuringly.

Lambo demands, "Mama, more soft-serve ice cream!"

"Did you eat yours already?" asks Mama.

"Knock it off, Lambo," says Tsuna. "You'll get a stomach ache if you eat too much."

"You won't be able to hold it in," says Bianchi.

Mama agrees, "They're right. Ah, Lambo-kun, didn't you have candy?"

"OH?" Lambo seems to realize this and starts digging around in his hair. "I stored it in my afro! I'm not gonna share it with anybody," he explains. He pulls out a grenade and the pin comes out. "This isn't it," he says with a bored expression.

Suddenly, there's an explosion somewhere and a man screams. "An explosion?" asks Tsuna.

Lambo immediately replies, "Lambo-san doesn't know!"

I stay quiet as Mama says, "It's Sunday, must to be fireworks from some kind of event."

"Celebrate with explosions in China," says I-Pin.

"Oh, I see. I'm so sensitive to explosions lately," Tsuna says happily.

"Tsuna-san, you're worrying too much. Don't, I'll take care of it. I am your Snow Guardian after all," I tell him.

* * *

><p>Not long after we get back, someone rings the doorbell. I ignore it because I hear Tsuna get it and I continue to do my homework. Suddenly, there's a loud boom and I realize that the Ten-Year-Bazooka must have gone off. I stand up and walk downstairs to check on what's happening. I find a man on the ground with adult Lambo standing on the man's back in the most idiotic outfit I have ever seen. He dances on the man's back as Tsuna stares at him with a blank look.<p>

"Lambo," I greet calmly.

"Oh, young Kori, nice to see you again," he says. Then he looks and the man that he's dancing on. "Oh? I've never seen him before." He crouches down on the man and looks up at Tsuna and I. "Who is this, young Vongola and Kori?"

"What to say…" mutters Tsuna.

Adult Lambo picks the man up. "Oh well. Let's party together!" Lambo continues to do the stupid looking dance with the man's arm slung around his shoulder.

Suddenly the man jumps away and exclaims, "Let me go!" Adult Lambo dances his way out the door. "What was that?" asks the man. Then the man turns to me. "What a pretty girl you are. What grade are you in?" he asks.

"Second year in middle school," I reply. The doorbell rings and I open the door to see a brightly smiling Gokudera.

"Excuse me, Tenth!" he exclaims. Then he looks at me and realizes that I'm not Tsuna, thus he scowls. "Tch, it's only you."

I roll my eyes and reply sarcastically, "Yeah, thanks." I watch as Yamamoto and the older Sasagawa step in as well.

Gokudera asks angrily, "Why is it that when I come, you two are here too?"

"I was invited over today, along with Kyoko," replies Sasagawa.

"Now, now… Come on, it's alright," says Yamamoto.

I nod at them. "Yamamoto-san, Sasagawa-senpai," I greet.

"Yo," greets Yamamoto.

"Saito," says Sasagawa.

Tsuna walks over now. "Huh? You guys…"

Gokudera exclaims happily, "Tenth!"

"Oh? Do you guys have a guest?" asks Yamamoto, peering down the hall.

"W-Well, yeah," replies Tsuna.

The man walks down the hall with a bright smile. "Hello, nice to meet you. I am selling study material that would be very useful to all of you."

"Study materials?" Yamamoto repeats.

"In this age, grades from elementary school to middle school decide your life!" exclaims the man. "It is in this age that my company's materials are necessary!"

Gokudera mutters, "We don't need that crap."

"No interest!" declares Sasagawa.

"Well, the thing is…" starts the man. "If you take things too easy, it will be too late. In an ideal world, every home would hire a tutor, but that's not the case."

Reborn's voice replies, "Don't worry. There's already a home tutor here." I look at the staircase where Reborn suddenly appeared.

"Reborn," says Tsuna. "If you pop out, things will get complicated."

The man starts to laugh. "Hahaha, what an adorable infant! I'd like to take him home with me!" Then the man continues, "Please listen. You cannot be satisfied even if you do have a home tutor. You will certainly be left behind by the times if you rely only on a home tutor!" _Don't aggravate Reborn like that…_

"Say that again," commands Reborn. _Too late…_ "I'll split your head open."

"Stop it, Reborn!" exclaims Tsuna. Then the turns to the man and says, "And you shouldn't make fun of home tutors."

The man replies, "But in reality, all home tutors are just trash." Reborn slams his hammer shaped Leon into the floor right in front of the man and the man gasps.

"You've dug your own grave," says Reborn. He lifts his hammer up again. "Don't move. I'll get you with the next one." The man starts to tremble visibly. Then, he tries to run away, but he falls flat on his face, cracking his glasses.

"Why is there a log here?" he asks. He soon finds out that it's actually Bianchi's sake. "A snake!" exclaims the man covering his head.

Bianchi appears holding a large knife in hand and scolds the snake. "No. Food shouldn't run."

Gokudera's stomach grumbles and he exclaims, "S-Sis!" Then he falls to the floor.

"Save me!" exclaims the man. Then he and the sake start to float and he let out a cry of fear.

Fuuta crouches on the floor as he writes in his book and stay out loud, "Ingredients that are good for Poison Cooking… Pythons are in third place." Then Fuuta closes his book and the man and the python fall to the ground.

The man starts to cry. "I've had enough!" He attempts to crawl out the door, but he knocks into Gokudera. Some dynamite falls from Gokudera. The man looks at the ground and exclaims, "Dynamite?!" He charges out of the house screaming, "What is with this house?!"

"That's why I said so…" starts Tsuna.

Yamamoto points out, 'That guy forgot his bag."

"Eh?" asks Tsuna, he glances at the bag, whose contents are starting to spill out. "Hey! That's Mom's wallet!"

"What does that mean?" Gokudera asks weakly.

Tsuna exclaims, "That man is a pickpocket!"

I walk over to the bag and crouch down. I start to dig through the bag and I find my knife. "Oh, look! My knife! So it did get pickpocketed!" I exclaim as I put my knife back in place.

"Y-You keep knives under your skirt…?" asks Gokudera.

"Yeah," I reply. I look at his expression and then I kick him. "Don't have weird thoughts!" I command.

Reborn says, "Tsuna, go beat him up."

"T-Then…" starts Tsuna. He gets shot by the Dying Will bullet and he falls to the ground. Then, Tsuna, now clad in just boxers, exclaims, "Reborn!" He runs out shouting, "Beat up the pickpocket with my dying will!"

We all stare out the door for a bit. Then, I say, "Well, now that _that's_ taken care of, I'm going to continue with my homework."

* * *

><p>I sit at the table with everyone excluding Tsuna and Mama announces, "Everyone, sorry to keep you waiting! It's ready!"<p>

"Crab stew!"

Mama explains, "I thought a crab stew would make up for not being able to cook last night. It's a good season for stew."

"I love stews," Fuuta says happily.

Mama declares happily, "Let's all eat then!"

We all exclaim, "Thank you for the food!"

Gokudera looks around and asks, "Where did the Tenth go?"

"Tsuna?" asks Reborn. "He must be having a valuable experience as a mafia boss," explains Reborn with a smirk. _I have a bad feeling about that…_ I look around and I sigh. The amount of concern for Tsuna right now is amazingly low…


	15. Chapter 15

Author's Note: Poor Sho-chan. Kori becomes friends with him though.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I sigh as Gokudera and Lambo start to fight again. "You stupid cow!" shouts Gokudera. He pulls out some dynamite and exclaims angrily, "Today you're gonna explode!"<p>

Tsuna jumps up and shouts, "Gokudera-kun, no!" There's a loud explosion and I let out another sigh.

I slump in my chair. "I give up," I mutter as Lambo starts to cry. "Gokudera, are you serious? Stop blowing things up, you're disturbing the peace."

"Come on, it's alright," Tsuna says to Lambo.

"Tenth, there's no need to be concerned about him!" Then, Gokudera turns to glare at me. "You sound like Hibari now!"

"What did I do wrong?" I ask with a shrug. "Besides, I'm part of the Discipline Committee too. I'm only telling you what you'll hear if Hibari-san does come around. Don't you ever think that you're disturbing the neighbors?"

Bianchi comes in and scolds him. "Hyato, Kori is right. You're being a nuisance to the neighborhood. How long are you going to act childishly?"

"Sis!" Gokudera exclaims. Then he falls to the ground as usual.

Tsuna exclaims, "Ah! Gokudera-kun!"

I look at Bianchi and nod at her. "Thank you." She nods and exits the room.

* * *

><p>I eat my meal quietly and listen to the chatter. Bianchi asks, "Reborn, do you want seconds?"<p>

"Yeah," replies Reborn.

Fuuta holds up his bowl. "Me too!"

"Alright, just wait a little bit," replies Mama.  
>Tsuna looks around. "Is something the matter, Tsuna-san?" I ask.<p>

"Where's Lambo?" he asks. I shrug.

"Not here yet. Lambo is a sleepyhead," replies I-Pin.

"If he's not here, then that's fine," comments Tsuna, looking at the empty seat for

Lambo. There's a lot of quick paced footsteps and Tsuna looks up again. "Here he comes."

The door slides open and Lambo declares, "Lambo-san has appeared! I'm gonna eat lots of food!" I stare at Lambo's horns, which are placed in odd places. There's one on top of his forehead and upside-down and the other is crooked. The horn in the front makes him look a bit like a unicorn wannabe.

Tsuna exclaims, "At least put your horns on properly before you come!" Lambo looks up and sees the horn on his forehead.

"That's not good, Lambo. You need to look a mirror when you get ready," says Fuuta.

"Lambo untidy! Act properly!" I-Pin scolds.

Lambo looks embarrassed as he fixes his horns. "It's on purpose! I'm gonna fix it anyway though."  
>"Sure, Lambo wanted to try and be a unicorn for today, right?" I ask. There are a few laughs in response.<p>

"It really was on purpose!" Lambo says as he pulls something out from his afro. He fires a rocket at Reborn. "Reborn, die!"

Tsuna exclaims, "He fired it to hide his embarrassment!" Reborn catches it with his chopsticks and turns it back on Lambo. Lambo gets hit and flies out the door. I walk over to the door with Tsuna and Tsuna says, "He flew away…"

"Um, should I go look for him?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "He'll come back eventually."

"Okay…"

* * *

><p>I let out a quiet sigh of relief as Lambo announces that he's back. I was actually<p>

pretty worried about him. I hear Tsuna outside talking to Miura. I assume that she wore the namahage costume again because I hear him complain. Suddenly, there are more explosions and I walk downstairs and pull on my black combat boots. I walk outside to find Bianchi in a bikini dragging Gokudera into the house. _Isn't she cold…? It's the middle of winter… _Reborn is dressed as a girl with blonde hair with pink highlights tied into two buns for some reason. Tsuna is talking to Miura dressed as namahage as I had guessed. I turn to Reborn and ask, "Reborn-san, did Lambo get hit by explosives again? He was only back for five minutes or so."

"Yup," replies Reborn. I nod. _Oh well…_

Bianchi looks at me. "New clothes?" she asks. I nod. "Looks good on you." Then, she continues to walk into the house with Gokudera. I look at my clothes blankly. I'm wearing a dark blue butterfly sleeved top with a pair of white skinny jeans and black combat boots. _Okay then…_

After helping Tsuna with Gokudera, who seems to still be experiencing pain, I sit in my room again, trying to do homework. I glance out the window and see a red Ferrari pull up outside. I catch the Bronco walking out and I get up and walk to Tsuna's room. I walk in and say, "Tsuna-san, the Bronco's outside."

"Eh? Dino-san? Outside?" he asks. I nod and he peers outside the window. "Let's go greet him then." I nod and follow him outside. "Dino-san?" asks Tsuna.

I stand next to Tsuna and greet, "Bronco."

"Yo, Tsuna. Ice Princess," replies the Bronco.

"What's the matter?" asks Tsuna. "I thought you just went home to Italy."

"I had some work to do here, so I thought I'd see how my little bro was doing on the way," replies the Bronco.

Romario says, "He says that, but the boss is really after the food here."

"Romario! Don't make it sound as though that's all I came here for!" the Bronco exclaims. His subordinates start to laugh and I find myself laughing too. "Tsuna, that was a lie, of course. Though Tsuna's Mama's cooking is very good…"

I nod in agreement. "I've been spoiled by it as well, Bronco."

Tsuna smiles and asks, "Would you like to have something before you go?"

"Thanks, Tsuna!" the Bronco says happily. Then he waves his subordinates away. "You guys can go home.

"Don't trouble Reborn-san and the family too much, Boss," says Romario.

"Shut up," replies the Bronco. They laugh as they drive off.

"Hibari-san," I call out as I see Hibari walking down the street, most likely on partrol.

He stops and turns to look at me. "Saito," he greets.

The Bronco says, "Hey, Kyoya! It's been a while."

"Eh? Hibari-san?" asks Tsuna.

Hibari walks over and says to the Bronco, "You're still in Namimori. Good." He holds up his tonfas and declares, "I'll bite you to death this time for sure."

The Bronco waves his hands a bit frantically. "H-Hold on, Kyoya. Your training is complete. There's no need to fight any-"

"It doesn't matter," replies Hibari. "All that matters is that I can bite you to death."

Reborn jumps onto the gate and says, "Ciaossu, Hibari."

"Hello there, baby," replies Hibari.

"Reborn, say something to this guy," says the Bronco.

"Dino, take responsibility for your student 'til the end. That is the duty of a home tutor!" replies Reborn. _In other words, "I won't help you."_

"Well I've got nothing more to teach him!" exclaims the Bronco. Hibari tries to hit him and the Bronco dodges. "I guess there's no helping it, you fighting manic." Then, he pulls out his whip.

"Ah! Dino-san! Hibari-san! Please don't fight here!" Tsuna pleads. "You'll destroy my house!" I look at the kids blankly as they tease each other. Lambo lands in front of Hibari and I-Pin in front of the Bronco. "Lambo. I-Pin. It's dangerous!" says Tsuna. He starts to tremble. I see I-Pin look at Hibari and she starts to blush. "Ah! The Pinzu Time Bonb count down! Dino-san! Throw I-Pin far away!" exclaims Tsuna.

"Okay!" replies the Bronco. He messes up and hits Tsuna with I-Pin.

"AHHH!"

I manage to jump onto the roof in time with Reborn and Hibari to prevent myself from getting blown up. "I've changed my mind. Even if I defeat him today, it won't be interesting at all," says Hibari.

"Yeah, that's right," replies Reborn.

"Hibari-san, I'll let you know when the Bronco has his subordinates around next time," I say.

He nods and says, "Later." Then, he jumps off the roof. I jump back onto the gate with Reborn and then jump on the floor.

"The stupid cow aside, as my students, this is pretty sad, Tsuna, Dino," says Reborn.

I look at down at them and ask, "Would you like some help there?"

* * *

><p>"Don't move," says Fuuta applying another bandage to the Bronco's face.<p>

"So, Hibari was here before? Did he come to hang out?" asks Yamamoto.

"I don't think so," replies Tsuna.

"First aid is all done. Be careful Tsuna-nii, Dino-nii," says Fuuta.

"Thanks, Fuuta," replies Tsuna.

"Thanks," replies the Bronco. He grins and continues, "but I think it was better than having to fight Hibari." _Exactly what sort of training did they do?_

"Tsuna, I'm going to say hello to Mama," says the Bronco. Then he steps inside.

Yamamoto seems to be thinking about something. Then he says, "It'll be hard with those injuries, so I'll play with the little ones today."

"Eh? Are you sure?" asks Tsuna.

"Yeah!" exclaims Fuuta. He seems happy. I-Pin is cheering as well. "Takeshi-nii, you're going to play with us?"

"Very thank you!" exclaims I-Pin in her slightly choppy way as usual. "What should we play?"

Yamamoto walks around as he looks at the ground for something to play with. "Hmm, I don't know… Oh! We can do this," he replies. He kneels down and picks up a ball. "Let's play catch

"Yeah! That sounds good!" exclaims Fuuta.

"I-Pin too!"

Tsuna and I shout at the same time, "No! That's not good!"

"Then, here is goes," says Yamamoto. _Shoot!_ He throws the ball without holding back. Fuuta trembles as the ball comes at him at an amazing speed. I form an illusionary wall in front of Fuuta and I-Pin kicks the ball out of the way before it even hits the wall. Unfortunately, the ball hits Lambo square in the face and the ball flies away. Lambo starts to cry and Tsuna sighs. I let go of the illusion. Yamamoto exclaims, "Are you okay? Sorry!"

"Lambo-san is gonna stay calm…" says Lambo. As usual, it doesn't work and he crawls into the Ten-Year-Bazooka.

Adult Lambo appears and says, "My, my, I was just enjoying a hotel meal and now…" He walks up to Tsuna and greets, "Hello, young Vongola."

"Adult Lambo!" exclaims Tsuna.

Bianchi passes by and suddenly he says, "My, my. I'll make my exit now, young Vongola!" He dashes away.

"Stop, Romeo!" shouts Bianchi, enraged now.  
>"I knew it!" exclaims Tsuna. He looks scared.<p>

Bianchi shouts, "Poison Cooking!"

"Save me!" Adult Lambo begs as Bianchi chases him down the street.

"STOP!" Bianchi continues to shout. I let out a sigh. _I wonder if it's bad that this has become normal…?_

Tsuna exclaims angrily, "Reborn! Do something! They're being nuisances to the neighborhood!"

"You do something," Reborn replies.

"Hold on!" exclaims Tsuna. He gets shot by the Dying Will bullet. "Reborn!" Cue Tsuna in his boxers. "I'm going to stop Bianchi with my Dying Will!"

"The trick to stopping their fight is making them lose their will to fight. These are additional bullets to do just that," explains Reborn. I watch with interest as Reborn fires two more bullets at Tsuna's cheeks.

I hear them charging down the street again because Bianchi shouts, "Stop! Romeo!"

Then Adult Lambo continues to plead, "Save me!"

"Bianchi!" calls Tsuna.

"What is this?" she asks. I stifle a laugh as I look at Tsuna's now enormous cheeks. He looks a bit like a gorilla.

Tsuna declares, "Let's have a staring contest!"

Bianchi stares at him and says, "You piss me off!" She throws the Poison Cooking at Tsuna's mouth and he falls to the ground. I look at Tsuna and the unknown male who seems to have fainted as well.

"That didn't seem to work on Bianchi," comments Reborn. I nod in agreement._ Who is the male that fainted too?_ "If you're so concerned, you take care of him," replies Reborn.  
>I sigh. "Fine." I struggle to lift the heavier red-haired male unto my back and bring (in other words drag) him into the house.<p>

* * *

><p>I look at the red-haired male with glasses blankly as he wakes up. The house is quiet now. Lambo, I-Pin and Fuuta went out to play in the park with Yamamoto, Tsuna and Gokudera are unconscious upstairs, and Bianchi, Reborn, and Mama went out to buy food and coffee. "U-Um… where am I?" asks the male.<p>

"My home," I reply. "You fainted outside," I explain.

He jumps up, looking startled. "U-Um...! I'm sorry!" He bows.

I smile at him calmly and shake my head a little. "Don't worry. You don't have to apologize. It was really hectic around here. I'm sorry for all the things you had to see. You were there for a while, weren't you?"

"Y-Yeah…" he replies, nodding unsurely.

"I'm sorry," I say again. _I feel bad for him. He had to see all this stuff that would certainly seem odd at the very least for any normal person._ "Anyways, my name is Saito, Miyuki, but people call me Kori. It's nice to meet you, I guess." I bow a little.

"I'm Irie, Shoichi. N-Nice to meet you Saito-san," he replies.

I smile at him. "Irie-san, let me walk you home to apologize. I'll make sure you don't see anything weird." _I'll use my illusions to hide anything that the others might cause…_

"Y-You can do that? How?" he asks. His eyes are wide.

"It's a secret," I reply. I grin at him.

He nods slowly. "...okay…" I pass him the crate that he was carrying before he fainted as we walk out the door.

I try to make idle chatter with him to make it seem more normal. To be honest with you, I'm a bit curious about him. I haven't really met anyone without some connection to the mafia recently. "Irie-san, which school do you attend?" I ask.

"Yumei Private Middle School. I'm a third year there," he replies.

"I've heard of that school. Isn't it very prestigious?" I ask.

He nods. "I guess so." Then he asks, "What about you, Saito-san? Which school do you attend?"

"I go to Nami-Middle. I'm a second year there. I came here a little while back though," I reply.

"Eh? You moved here? From where?" he asks.

"Hm? Well, I move around a lot, but I guess you can say that I moved here from Italy," I reply.

His eyes widen a bit. "Really? Amazing! You speak Japanese fluently though!"

I grin at him. "It's good to pick up different languages, especially if you travel a lot." I keep looking out for the others so I can hide whatever they cause in time.

He changes the topic. "Now that I think about it, I think I've seen you around a few times…" he says.

"Hm," I start. _Where have I seen him…?_ "Ah! The music store, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, I think you're right," he replies.

I nod. "I remember passing by there a few times," I reply. "Do you like to listen to music a lot?" I ask, glancing at the headphones hanging around his neck.

"Yeah. I want to be a musician one day," he replies with a nod. "Do you have any hobbies?"

"Hm? Not really. I like learning about other things though…" I reply. "That must be nice though, knowing what you'd like to do," I say. I feel a faint smile on my face.

He looks at me blankly. "Eh? What do you mean?"

"Well, I've never really thought much about the future," I reply in a slightly carefree manner. "It's good to have a goal though. You know what you're working towards."

"Oh, I'm home," he says suddenly. I look at the apartment building and I nod. "Wow, you actually did prevent any weird things from happening!" he exclaims.

I smile at him and nod. "Well, it was nice talking to you, Irie-san. If you're up for it, maybe you can show me the kind of music you like to listen to some other time."

He nods. "Yeah, sure."

"Sounds good then," I reply.

"U-Um… I'll give you my number. You're an interesting person to talk to," he says quietly.

I smile a bit. "Sure. Here, I'll give you mine too." I pass him my cell phone after taking his. I punch in my number and pass it back to him. "See you!" I start to walk back home_. He's not a bad person… Typical, but that's new to me. None of the people I know are typical._ I smile a bit. _I shouldn't get too close to him though. I don't want to be the one to drag him into the mafia. I would never be able to forgive myself for doing that to someone. _


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: We'll be going to the future arc soon…

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I write the answers down for the school-wide science test quickly. My eyes skim the page and I fill in whatever I know for sure. Then I move on to the ones I can guess on. Finally, there are the questions that I have no idea about. I start to write down guesses. I don't know some of the answers to the questions because I've been napping so much in school. I wonder what the result will turn out to be. When I reach the end of the test, I flip the page over and get into position to take a nap.<p>

* * *

><p>I stare blankly at the science teacher, Nezu, as he enters the room with a stern expression. He throws the stack of tests on the desk and asks, "What is a test?" The class has no answer. "A test is your life itself! Midterm tests, final tests, promotion tests, and scholastic aptitude tests. To get a driver's license, to qualified, you must take a test! And unless you pass them all, you cannot be happy in your life!"<p>

"There he goes again," Kurokawa comments.

Nezu continues, "From a first-class middle school to a first-class high school, and to Tokyo University, the best of the first-class universities. I, who have followed this elite path, tell you so there is no mistake! Now, I shall return your tests!" He looks at the first test in the stack and suddenly, his expression darkens and his tone becomes a bit mocking. "This is hypothetical. However, if there is a student who scored in the twenties and lowered the class average, that kind of person will only be luggage who pulls others down while he is in school." Tsuna pales. _Don't tell me…_ "Now, let me introduce him to you," Nezu continues with his arms open. "That lowly student is…"

The lights go out and the projector comes on, revealing Tsuna's score of twenty-six. "Ahhhh!" Tsuna shouts in panic.

"Ha! Twenty-six points!" someone exclaims.

Another says, "It was No-Good Tsuna!"

Poor Tsuna runs up to the front and jumps up and down. "Don't look!" he exclaims as the other students start to laugh.

"The only thing that should be important to you is scoring well on tests, to go from a good school to a good company! Those who cannot get good scores have no right to live!" Nezu says passionately. He says this with so much passion he seems to burst into flames momentarily then, he regains his cool. "Understand, Sawada?"

The other students start to laugh again and I glare at the ones around me. Some of them fall silent. Suddenly, Gokudera comes into the room. He's late. "G-Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna exclaims.

"Hey!" Nezu shouts. Tsuna cringes. "You're late! What is the meaning behind arriving so late?"

Of course, Gokudera glares at him and he cringes. Tsuna walks over to Gokudera and says to him in a hushed tone, "W-Wait, you can scare the teacher!"

"Yes, what is it, Tenth?" Gokudera asks cheerily.

"I see. That's your plan," Nezu says. "This is hypothetical. However, if there is a student who comes in tardy, that student is certainly in league with the failure student because birds of a feather flock together!"

Gokudera looks like he's going to punch Nezu. "Hey! I won't let you insult the Tenth!"

Luckily Tsuna attempts to hold Gokudera back, allowing the teacher to dodge. "Ahh! Gokudera-kun, wait!"

I glance at Yamamoto, who sits next to me, and he nods. We both get up and walk over to the front. "Knock it off, Gokudera," Yamamoto says.

"Calm down," I advise. I see the teacher glance warily at the Discipline Committee armband pinned to my sleeve.

"Shut up!" Gokudera shouts. "I can't keep quiet while the Tenth is being mocked!" Nezu slips suddenly and knocks into the wall. This causes the projector to fall on him, which in return causes him to kick the desk down too.

"S-Sensei, are you alright?" Tsuna asks. I walk over and help pull the things off of the teacher.

"You're all…" he starts. "EXPELLED!"

"Eh?!" we all gasp at once.

* * *

><p>We all get sent to the principal's office. "Expulsion!" Nezu demands angrily. He seems to have broken his right arm and also has a bandage wrapped around his forehead. "Principal, they should all be expelled!"<p>

"Now, calm down Nezu-sensei," the aging principal says.

"I can't remain calm!" he replies angrily. "They used violence against me, an elite who graduated from Tokyo U!"

Tsuna says, "You just tripped on your own."

Yamamoto agrees with a small smile. "We didn't do anything."

"Silence!" Nezu demands. "I'm sure that you scored just as poorly as Sawada!" I raise my eyebrows at this. _Really?_ He pulls out the three of our tests and says out loud, "Yamamoto, sixty points. Gokudera…one hundred points? Saito, ninety points…"

Tsuna looks at Yamamoto questioningly. "Hm?" then Yamamoto laughs. "My gut feeling was mostly correct this time."

The teacher growls, "You must have cheated!"

"Eh?"

"Like I'd do something that stupid," Gokudera replies.

I raise my eyebrows again. "I studied a bit. Why would I need to cheat?" I ask.

"That's right. Nezu-sensei, what proof do you have?"

"A student that defies the teacher cannot possibly have gotten one hundred points and ninety points! There's no possible way for you to get those scores without cheating! I'll forgive you if you admit it right now," Nezu says. "However, lying is what the worst kinds of people do!"

"I told you that I didn't!" Gokudera replies.

I nod in agreement. "I didn't cheat either."

"Saito was recommended by Boreen-san. There's no way that a student like that would cheat," the principal says.

I bow. "Thank you very much."

"Look at her! She's part of the Discipline Committee! There's no way that a person in that could possibly be a good student!"

I wonder if Hibari's around. "The Discipline Committee is part of the student government. The student government isn't where the 'bad' students belong to, right?" I reply.

"Anyway! They should be expelled!" Nezu says.

"But…"

"Principal! As you can plainly see, they used violence against me- an elite! If I had been hospitalized, it would have been a hindrance to the other students' learning! And on top of that, they cheated. If we let these kinds of students loose, they will have a bad influence on other students!" Nezu argues. He waves his injured arm around frantically. "They should be expelled immediately!"

"Ah!" Yamamoto exclaims. "Your right arm."

The teacher stares at it for a second before exclaiming, "Ow, ow, ow, ow! My arm!"

"Hold on!" a familiar voice exclaims. Senpai bursts into the room. "Are you really going to expel them?!"

"Who are you?!" Nezu exclaims.

"Captain of the boxing club, Sasagawa, Ryohei! Sawada is the one who will succeed the boxing club! Please do not expel him!" Sasagawa shouts.

"What are you babbling about?" Nezu asks irritably. "All a student should do is study. If you defy me, I'll expel you as well!"  
>Sasagawa exclaims, "What?!"<p>

"You just keep going on like that!" Gokudera exclaims.

"It's crazy," Yamamoto says in agreement.

"It's absurd. A teacher shouldn't act like this with false accusations and such strict beliefs," I add as I cross my arms.

Tsuna waves his hands around frantically. "Calm down everyone!"

"Please wait!" a girl's voice pleads. The younger Sasagawa comes into the room.

"Kyoko-chan!" Tsuna exclaims.

The principal says, "Oh, Sasagawa."

"Please don't expel or Tsuna-kun!" She bows.

Nezu asks, "What?"

"It is a bit harsh to go straight to expulsion," the principal agrees.

"It is just hypothetical. However, let us say there is a lovely maiden who asks for help. I'm not so cold that I would ignore such a wish," Nezu says. _What a creep…_

"They you'll," the younger Sasagawa starts happily.

He continues, "However, I cannot suddenly take expulsion off the table. Sawada will be retested tomorrow. What happens will depend on those results."

"Retest?" Tsuna asks.

"You did it, Tenth!" Gokudera praises.

"Good for you," Yamamoto says.

Nezu shouts, "However! If you get a low score, you'll all be expelled!"

"Eh?! That's terrible!" Tsuna exclaims.

Gokudera also exclaims, "Why does that have to happen?!"

"It's not as though the suspicion of cheating has been cleared. If you really sored sixty, one hundred, and ninety, then teach Sawada! If he passes the test then I will acknowledge that you did not cheat."

"That's unreasonable," I say. "A person who cheated wouldn't get a twenty-six. Tsuna-san got the lowest score in the class, didn't he? It's more reasonable to have me retake the test," I protest.

"We'll do it!" Gokudera declares.

"Eh? Seriously?" I ask. _Alright, don't respond._

Senpai says, "I'm getting extremely excited!"

The younger Sasagawa says with a smile, "Tsuna-kun, do your best!" Tsuna nods.

* * *

><p>We all gather in Tsuna's room after classes end. "So, we'll begin the Tenth's 'Test Passing Study Sleepover'," declares Gokudera.<p>

"Yeah!" Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Senpai shout enthusiastically.

Tsuna looks doubtful as he asks, "But will it be alright?"

"What are you saying? If you become serious, then the test will be a breeze!" Gokudera replies.

"If your gut feeling is right, you'll pass somehow," Yamamoto says.

Senpai exclaims, "Study to the extreme!"

"Huh? I don't know what to say," I start. "You just kind of… study…" I reply with a shrug.

"Haru will help Tsuna-san too!" Miura says cheerily.

Tsuna backs away from Haru a little and asks, "Why is Haru here?"

"I called her over," Sasagawa explains. "Haru-chan's smart!"

Bianchi comes in and says, "Then I'll take care of dinner." Gokudera stares at Bianchi for a few seconds and then falls down on his back.

Reborn says from the bed, "Just take care of it yourselves. I'm going to sleep." He really looks ready to go to sleep. _Aren't you the home tutor, Reborn-san?_

"Reborn! Aren't you my home tutor?" Tsuna asks. I nod in agreement. There's no response. Suddenly a bubble comes out from Reborn's nose. "He fell asleep quickly!"

Gokudera asks, "Do you understand, Tenth?" Gokudera holds onto his glasses. "Before and after a chemical reaction, the types and amounts of elements don't change."

"Take a test with vigor!" Yamamoto says with a smile and a laugh.

Miura spins around in her cut-open-fish costume. "This is the inside of a fish!"

I sigh. There's no way Tsuna can understand this. They're all yelling at him at once. "Tsuna-san…" I start.

"I can't understand a thing if you explain different things to me all at once!" Tsuna exclaims.

"Do your best to the extreme! I'll cheer you on!" Senpai shouts.

"Onii-chan…" Sasagawa says.

* * *

><p>Everyone is getting tired since it's getting late- even I'm nodding off a bit. "Everyone seems sleepy," Miura comments, "I thought this might happen, so I brought coffee!" She holds a thermos up. "We'll drink this and our eyes will be wide open, like in the morning! So, I'll go get the cups!" Miura gets up.<p>

The door opens slowly and Lambo comes in. "It's so noisy I can't sleep," he says drowsily as he rubs his eye.

"It's dangerous!" Miura shouts as she throws the thermos up.

"Looks like fun! Lambo-san's gonna do it too!" Lambo exclaims as I-Pin comes in. Lambo catches the thermos and jumps on Tsuna's, Gokudera's, and then Senpai's heads.

"Lambo-chan!" Miura exclaims.

"That's dangerous!" Sasagawa says.

I-Pin jumps up and kicks the coffee out of Lambo's hands, "Lambo, no cause trouble!"

At the same moment, Bianchi comes in with a poison pizza. "I brought dinner," she says. The coffee lands in the pizza. A weird, I mean weirder than usual, smoke emanates from the pizza and Bianchi collapses suddenly.

"Bianchi-san!" Sasagawa exclaims. "What?" she asks drowsily.

"What is it?" Yamamoto asks. His eyes close too.

Senpai exclaims, "Extreme!" He starts to snore.

"Lambo-san sleepy…" Lambo mutters.

I-Pin mutters, "I-Pin in dream world…"

"It must be sleeping gas!" Gokudera exclaims. He starts to snore too.

"Oh shoot…" I manage to say before my eyelids feel heavy.

* * *

><p>We woke up in the morning and found out that we were really late. Even though we rushed to the school, there was nothing we could do. Now in the principal's office again, we're getting yelled at. "Expulsion! I, an elite, came in on a day off, and they slept in and missed the test!"<p>

"We're sorry, Sensei," Sasagawa says, "but please, let him take the test!" She bows.

"Kyoko-chan," Tsuna says.

"No! A promise is a promise. Now, Principal! Expel them!"

"Now, I just can't…" the principal starts hesitantly.

Nezu exclaims, "If we let them be, they will be a bad influence on students who are on an elite course in Namimori-Middle!"

"However…"

A weird looking person in a black graduation cap and gown claps slowly. "That's a splendid thought." _What a weird looking guy._

"W-Who are you?" Nezu asks.

"Oh! Professor Boreen!" the principal says. _What? Isn't this the guy that the principal said was the one who recommended me? I've never met this guy in my life!_

Nezu comments, "I can't imagine what he's thinking! His eyes are deep like the sea!"

"As expected from Nezu-sensei, the man of Namimori Middle. It's exactly as you say," the professor says.

"Am I really that well known?" Nezu asks.

The professor nods. "Of course. Your strict relationship with the students makes you the ideal instructor."

"Oh my, I'm certainly not that impressive."

"It's obvious to punish students who break a promise."

"That exactly right."

"We should expel the students who cannot study instead of bothering the elite Nezu-sensei."

"Of course. Exactly." _What is this professor saying? Does he really agree with Nezu-sensei's teaching methods this much?_

"However! There are many skills besides studying," the professor says.

Nezu agrees a bit reluctantly. "Well, certainly."

"It is possible for them to have other skills besides studying."

"Well, that may be possible."

"How about testing them on something besides studied materials?"

"That may be good," Nezu replies. He gasps suddenly. The professor tricked him into agreeing. I smirk. _Wow…_

The professor says, "All of you, rejoice! It seems that Nezu-sensei will test you again."

"Thank goodness…" Sasagawa says with a smile.

Nezu glares at the professor, but suddenly, he changes from looking angry to smirking. _He's up to something… _I start to pay attention more carefully. "Oh yes, Principal. I heard that we were unable to find the time capsule that was buried fifteen years ago."

"We found everything else from before then. We just can't seem to find the one form fifteen years ago. What about it?"

Nezu chuckles. "Let's make them find it."

"Eh?" Tsuna asks.

"If you can find the time capsule from fifteen years ago that supposed to be buried somewhere here on school grounds, then I'll take back the expulsion," Nezu explains.

Tsuna asks, "Really?"

"All right. Let's find it!" Gokudera says.

"Yeah!" Yamamoto agrees. I don't agree. There's something weird about this. _What's he planning? He must know something about this._

Nezu adds, "However, if you cannot find it before sundown, you will be expelled!"

"Eh? Until sundown?" Tsuna asks. He looks a bit worried now.

Gokudera says reassuringly, "It'll be fine, Tenth!"

"We'll pull it off somehow," Yamamoto says optimistically.

"This is extreme!" Senpai says.

"W-Will it really be alright?" Tsuna asks.

I cross my arms and nod in agreement. "My thoughts exactly," I say calmly.

* * *

><p>By the time the sun starts to set, I'm exhausted. I lost feeling in my arms a while ago. Tsuna falls to his knees. "It's no use."<p>

Gokudera wipes the sweat from his forehead. "My hands are feeling numb."

"This is pretty tough," Yamamoto comments.

Senpai says, "But, compared to training, this is…"

Miura pants. "We have to find the time capsule, somehow!"

"Lambo's hungry," Lambo complains.

"I-Pin take a little break…"

I continue to try and fight off the pain that I'm feeling right now. It's really tough though. Suddenly, Tsuna goes into dying will mode.

"Tenth!"

"Tsuna!"

"That's extreme!"

"Tsuna-san?" I ask. I watch as the whole piece of land is dug up with no avail. Tsuna continues to dig and actually starts digging straight through the concrete and into the inner courtyard. We all run after Tsuna.

Nezu shouts, "What are you all doing?!"

"We're looking for the time capsule!" Gokudera replies.

"But you cannot tear up the school grounds like that! And this is the inner courtyard! What if the capsule from five years ago is found?!" Nezu exclaims.

"Eh?" Sasagawa asks.

"What was that?" Yamamoto asks.

I smirk. "Got you," I say. "Tsuna-san! Keep going, the capsule should be in the inner courtyard!" I call out.

"Um…well… Anyway, Principal! We should expel anyone who would tear up the school like this!" Nezu exclaims.

"This is the capsule from five years ago!" Tsuna exclaims.

Nezu continues to shout frantically, "S-See? He dug up something else entirely! Make him stop!"

"This is the time capsule from seven years ago! This is from eleven years ago! Where is the capsule from fifteen years ago?!" Tsuna digs up a box and throws it up in the air. "This doesn't matter!"

The box lands in front of Gokudera and he bends down to pick it up. Nezu gasps. "Stop! Don't open it!"

I look as Gokudera opens the box. There's a piece of paper in it. Gokudera unfolds it and reads it out loud as I peek at it from the side. I start to snicker. "Nezu Dohachiro. Science… six points."

"Language, three points," Yamamoto says.

Senpai says, "His math test is only two points."

Miura reports, "Zero points for social studies."

"That's…" Nezu starts.

The principal asks from behind Nezu. "Nezu-sensei, what it the meaning of this?"

"You said you graduated from a first-class middle school. And these scores…" Gokudera says.

"They're even worse than Tsuna-san's," I comment. _That's amazing in its own way, actually…_

"That's…" Nezu starts.

"Nezu Dohachiro, age fourty. He graduated from Namimori-Middle, then went from a fourth-class high school to a fifth-class university. He took eight years and then finally graduated," Professor Boreen says.

Nezu asks, "H-How did you know that?"

"Then being an elite is…" Yamamoto starts.

"Were you lying?" Senpai asks.

Tsuna declares, "I found it! The time capsule from fifteen years ago!"

"You did it, Tenth!" Gokudera says happily.

"But if it wasn't in the grounds, but in the courtyard…" Sasagawa starts.

Senpai finishes angrily, "You were lying about where the time capsule was buried, too!"

"What was it again?" I ask. "'Lying is what the worst kinds of people do,' isn't it, Nezu-sensei?" I smirk at him.

"Not once, but twice," Professor Boreen comments with a smirk.

"Principal! I found the time capsule from fifteen years ago!" Tsuna says as he holds out the capsule to the principal. "No one will be expelled, right?"

The principal smiles and nods. "Indeed. That will not happen of course."

Tsuna smiles brightly. "Thank goodness, Tsuna-kun."

"Yeah, thank you," he replies. "It was thanks to you, Kyoko-chan."

"Haru helped too!"

"Yeah. Thanks everyone!" We're all smiling now. Even I am. I don't know how to describe it, but somehow, I'm happy, I guess.

Suddenly, Tsuna falls down and starts getting dragged away by Reborn, who appears really quickly. "Now we need to clean up."

"Eh? Cleaning up what?" Tsuna asks.

Reborn explains, "We need to fix the school grounds by the end of the day. If you don't, Hibari will bite you to death."

I look up at the roof and see Hibari. I wave. "Eh?" Tsuna asks. He gasps and says in a frightened manner, "Hibari-san! Fixing it by the end of the day? That's impossible!"

I laugh a little and every turns to me with surprised expressions. "Hahahaha… haha!" I grin at Tsuna. "I'll speak to Hibari-san, and see what I can do." I don't know why I'm so happy. I don't even think that I've been that happy in a while. I run into the building so that I can talk to Hibari. Maybe, it's just because I can spend time with these guys.

Maybe.


	17. Chapter 17

Author's Note: Fillers before the future arc comes around. Mukuro wins the poll and so, the Kori X Mukuro fluff starts.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>I stare blankly at the piece of paper on my desk. I repeat quietly, "Vongola-style Mama Appreciation Day." I continue stare. "Vongola-style, huh? That'll be interesting," I comment to myself.<p>

* * *

><p>We have a skill competition as usual. All Vognola-style parties have this for some reason. Even though I don't really know what I'd wish for if I won, I know that I definitely can't lose. If you lose, you're doomed to have bad luck for life. Bianchi announces, "Now, I will be presiding over this. So, the top batter will be one of the top four in the prefecture, the star for Nami-Middle's baseball team, Yamamoto, Takeshi!"<p>

Yamamoto's dressed in a chief's outfit like his dad. "I heard what's going on, Takeshi! You better win!" his dad says.

"Do your best, Yamamoto-kun!" Mama says.

"Thanks!" Yamamoto replies with a nod. "Now, juggling sushi!" I clap with everyone else asks Yamamoto starts to juggle the sushi with ease.

"Wow!" Mama says.

Miura comments, "Wonderful!"

"That's really good, Yamamoto-kun," Sasagawa says.

"So many!" Fuuta comments in awe.

"Way to go Takeshi!" his dad cheers.

Suddenly, Gokudera appears in a baseball uniform with a baseball glove. "Hey, Yamamoto! Back home!" Gokudera shouts.

Yamamoto goes into "baseball mode" and throws the suchi at Gokudera, who in return, dodges. The sushi hits Yamamoto's dad square in the face. "Over here!" Gokudera calls out as he puts the glove in front of Romario's face. Romario gets hit too. Then Fuuta and Shamal. Finally, Gokudera gets hit twice too.

"What an accident," Bianchi replies in a monotone way. "So, how many points?" she asks as she turns to the scoreboard. "Fifty points! Yamamoto, Takeshi makes little progress."

"The juggling was great at first. What came next was pretty bad," Reborn says.

"Well, you shouldn't waste food," Mama says.

Yamamoto scratches the back of his head. "Oops."

"Next, the lion-punchinist, Sasagawa, Ryohei!" Bianchi announces.

Senpai stands on the stage in his boxing uniform and shouts, "Ahhhh! I'll shatter this block with punches your eyes won't be able to keep up with!"

"Onii-chan, do your best!" Sasagawa calls out.

Miura comments, "This seems pretty impressive."

"Extreme high-speed punch!" Senpai shouts. The block really shatters and I really couldn't follow it but… "How about it?!" he exclaims. Everyone is quiet. "What's the matter?"

Kurokawa asks, "Did you see that?"

"Nope," Sasagawa replies.

"Was it an illusion?" Miura asks. _No._

Kusakabe suggests, "Maybe he's cheating!"

"That's right!" the other Discipline Committee members agree.

"My eyes really could keep up," Tsuna mutters.

Bianchi announces, "So, Sasagawa, Ryohei gets fifteen points!"

"Something you can't see might as well not have happened at all," Reborn explains.

"Please clean up after yourself," Mama says. Senpai starts to cry in a comical way.

Bianchi says, "Let's keep rolling. Next up is the everything-ranker, Fuuta!"

"Sorry, Tsuna-ni. I'm in it to win," Fuuta says confidently. _He's so sure about this…_ He pulls out a harmonica. "So, I'm going to do it."

"A harmonica?" Gokudera asks.

"Points: thirty," Bianchi says.

"Ehh? Really?" Fuuta asks. He looks upset.

Mama replies, "It wasn't bad but…"

"You can't rank your own skills, I suppose," Reborn comments.

"Next, the one million volt annoyance, the stupid cow!" Bianchi says. _She actually said "stupid cow!" She's just like Gokudera! Or…the other way around, I guess since Bianchi's older…_

Lambo laughs haughtily. "Lambo-san's turn! I'll transform into a lot of different things." He turns around and takes his horns off. "Broccoli." I laugh with everyone else. He flips upside down. "An oiler for hot plates." _It's a cute idea._

Candy falls out of Lambo's hair and I-Pin says, "That chocolate is I-Pin's."

"My candy, too!" Fuuta says. He looks at Lambo. "Lambo! When did you take these?"

"Don't take!" Lambo exclaims as he pounces on the candy. "The snacks are all mine!" Lambo starts to run around.

"Stop!" Fuuta exclaims.

I-Pin demands, "Lambo, give it back!"

"That's mine!" Fuuta says.

"Punish Lambo!" I-Pin says.

Bianchi announces, "Points: three."

Lambo face plants and Mama scolds, "You shouldn't take other people's snacks, Lambo-kun."

"Next up, Sasagawa, Kyoko, Miura, Haru, and Kurokawa, Hana. A three girl team!" Bianchi says.

"What will they do?" Tsuna asks.

Mirua replies, "We're going to do…"

"A comedy trio," Sasagawa finishes.

Kurokawa looks uncomfortable. "W-We'll do our best."

"They're going to do comedy?!" Tsuna exclaims.

"I'm Haru!" Miura says.

"I'm Kyoko!" Sasagawa says.

"I'm Hana," Kurokawa says uncomfortably.

Miura says, "Oh my, you seem gloomy, Hana-san."

"B-Because…" Suddenly, the ten-year-bazooka goes off and adult Lambo appears.

"My, my. I was on my way to the bath house for a soak," adult Lambo says.

Kurokawa brightens up suddenly. "My dream guy is here!" she says happily.

"The pervy man!" Miura exclaims.

"Adult Lambo appeared…" Tsuna mutters.

Suddenly, things around the room start to get cut. I turn to Bianchi. She's using her poison cutter. "Romeo!" she exclaims angrily as she spins the purple dough around." As usual, chaos breaks loose.

"Bianchi's poison cutter is as sharp as ever," Reborn comments.

Tsuna exclaims, "Don't narrate so calmly!"

"Mama, how many points was that worth?" Reborn asks.

"E-Eight-five points?!" Tsuna exclaims.

Miura says happily, "We did it, Kyoko-chan!"

Sasagawa nods. "We did it!"

"My dream guy…" Kurokawa says with a sigh.

"B-But they didn't do anything…" Tsuna mutters.

"It was so impressive, though!" Mama replies.

Tsuna mutters, "I just don't get how Okaa-san scores things…"

"Tch, lost Romeo again," Bianch mutters darkly as she gets back on stage. "Anyway, getting back on track, let's go over the scores to so far. The three girls have the high score at eight-five points."

"So happy!" Miura exclaims.

"Next, Yamamoto, Takeshi at fifty points."

"That's no bad," Yamamoto says.

"Fuuta has thirty points."

Fuuta says sadly, "That's so weird."

"Sasagawa, Ryohei, fifteen points."

"I can't consent this!" Senpai shouts.

"The lowest scorer, Lambo, has three points."

Lambo laughs. "It's the closest score to first place!"

"Lambo doesn't get it!" I-Pin exclaims.

Bianchi continues, "Now, the next act is…"

The door slides open and Hibari appears. "Oh, it's time…" I say quietly as I get up.

"Hibari-san!" Tsuna exclaims.

"The cool and dangerous team! Nami-Middle Discipline Committee Chair and third in command, Hibari, Kyoya, and Saito, Miyuki!"

"Kori-chan?! Is that why you're wearing the Discipline Committee's uniform?" Tsuna asks. He looks really surprised.

The Discipline Committee members start at clap. "We've been waiting for this!"

"Chairman!"

I blush a little before I start to sing with Hibird. "Midori tanabiku namimori no  
>Dai naku shou naku nami ga ii<br>Itsumo kawaranu  
>Sukoyaka kenage<br>Aah, tomo ni utaou  
>Namimori chuu<p>

Asa tsuyu kagayaku namimori no  
>Heihei bonbon nami de ii<br>Itsumo kiowanu  
>Sukoyaka kenage<br>Hahaa, tomo ni waraou  
>Namimori chuu."<p>

I let out a quiet sigh when it's done. "Baby, I still don't like herding together," Hibari says. "I will forfeit." Hibari nods at me before leaving.

"Do as you want," Reborn replies.

The Discipline Committee members bow to me before leaving. "That was beautiful!" Then they start to run out. "Sorry for bothering you!"

"Points: sixty," Bianchi says.

"Huh? Seriously?" I ask.

* * *

><p>In the end, Reborn won for throwing the party. I yawn quietly. It's was fun having a party like that. I wonder who long the peaceful days like this will last. There's no way that it can keep up forever. This is the mafia after all. I stare out the window blankly.<p>

_"You should watch out,"_ Mukuro says suddenly.

_Huh? Mukuro-san?_ I consider this for a moment. _Something's going to happen again, isn't it?_

_"Yes. You should be careful, Kori."_

_Alright._ I nod to myself and smile. _Thank you._

_"By the way, why did you team up with that guy today?"_ Mukuro asks.

The topic changed quickly. _Oh, you mean with Hibari-san? I'm not too sure. Hibari-san asked so… _ I think about this more carefully. _I guess if anything, it kind of makes sense? Without the cloud, the snow wouldn't appear, right?_

_"Oh? Is that how it is?"_ Mukuro asks.

_Huh? What do you mean?_ I hesitate a little. _Um, Mukuro-san…are you jealous?_


	18. Chapter 18

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. It looks like Mukuro is winning the poll!

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.<p>

* * *

><p>As I walk to school, I feel as though someone's following me. Again. I see something behind me and I turn around abruptly. The red-haired male with glasses looks surprised. I sigh. "Oh, morning Irie-san. Sorry about that."<p>

"G-Good morning," he says. He still seems to be a little surprised.

I start to walk with him. "I've been really on edge recently. I feel like someone's always following me," I explain. "A stalker, maybe?" I grin. "It's not you, right?" I ask jokingly.

"O-Of course not!" he replies.

He's a bit too nervous for some reason. I decide to shake it off and I yawn. "Anyways, I can't wait to get to class. I really need a nap…"

* * *

><p>I happen to run into Irie as I head home by myself and I end up talking with him as we continue to head back towards our homes. I look at Irie carefully. "Don't you think that you're acting a bit oddly?" I ask suddenly. He looks on edge and his eyes keep darting around.<p>

"Huh? Um, no… n-not really," he replies.

I give him a doubtful look. "Sure…"

"I-I need to go now..." he says a bit too hastily. He runs off without saying anything else. _That's…really weird…_ I watch as he runs off into the distance for a while. Then, I decide to follow. He's acting suspicious. I follow him quietly and make sure that he doesn't see me. I watch quietly as Irie finds Tsuna and Reborn coming back from school. The ten-year-bazooka falls down on Reborn and he says something about not being able to move. Then, he disappears, but on one shows up in his place._ Is the Reborn in the future…dead…?_ I glance at Irie, who sighs in relief.

"What are you doing…?" I ask quietly, so he doesn't hear me. I walk back home. _I don't get it. What's happening?_

* * *

><p>I went home and after finishing my homework, there was nothing left to do other than waste time. Irie's actions have been bothering me. I stare at the ceiling as I try and figure out what he was doing. I sit up in bed as Tsuna bursts into the room. "Kori-chan!" he exclaims.<p>

I look at him calmly. "What's the matter?" I ask. I feel worried, but I absolutely will not allow him to tell that I am.

"Reborn's gone missing!" he exclaims. I rub my eyes as I stand up. "Huh? S-Sorry, did I wake you up?" he asks.

I shake my head. "Don't worry about it," I reply.

"Reborn got hit by the ten-year-bazooka afterschool, but he never reappeared!" Tsuna exclaims. He looks like he's panicking.

I get up. "I'll help look," I reply.

"Thanks!" Tsuna exclaims before he runs out of my room.

I walk downstairs and leave the house with my cellphone and the Vongola Ring around my neck as usual. I go towards the park, but I stop when I spot a familiar red-haired male. I run up to him. "Tell me what's going on," I demand bluntly.

"H-Huh?" he asks.

"I know that you're involved with what's happening. Tell me why Reborn disappeared and didn't return," I say. Irie looks scared. I sigh. "Sorry…" I start more calmly. "I don't know what you're doing in this, but I really need to know what's going on. I saw you run off and watch Reborn get hit by the ten-year-bazooka. Please, just explain it to me. Anything you know." _There's no way that he can be in mafia…right? Or, is that just what I'm hoping?_

"A-Alright. I'll explain it to you," he says hesitantly. "Not too long ago, I found a letter addressed to me, telling me to send people to the future using the ten-year-bazooka. It said that if I didn't do that, I won't have a future. The weird thing is though, that the handwriting in the letter is mine!"

I let out a sigh of relief before I realize it. "Thank goodness," I say quietly. "So, that explains why you've been acting strangely…"

"U-Um…also…" he starts hesitantly. I nod and urge him on. "Y-You're on the list too…"

I'm surprised, but I won't show it. I nod calmly instead. "Alright. Then, when the time comes, surprise me," I reply.

"Huh?"

"It says that you won't have a future if you don't do this right?" I ask. "Then, I'll go along with it."

I guess he wasn't expecting me to react that way. "Why?"

I grin at him. "We're friends, aren't we?" I ask. "I'll handle whatever I have to face. It'll be fine." _I say that, but I'm not so sure. What's going to happen? _I continue to smile even though I'm starting to feel anxious._ Mukuro-san was right. There really is some sort of danger._ "Well, I'm sure that you have to find the others too," I say calmly. "I'll leave you to it, Irie-san." I raise my hand. "See you."

* * *

><p>I sit in my room on the bed with the door closed and my cell phone in hand. "Hello? I'm sorry, Sir. There's going to be a bit of a delay in how quickly I can complete your request," I say.<p>

"Oh? How long will the delay be?" the man asks on the other end.

"I'm sorry Sir, the time that it will take is a bit…unpredictable. I will finish your request as soon as possible. I'm sorry for the delay." I hang up after he agrees with a sigh.

I dial the next number. "Hello? Miss, I'm sorry, but there's going to be a bit of a delay. I can't complete your request yet. Something that I have to take care of came up. I'm sorry." I continue to call all of my clients one by one until I finish letting all of them know.

* * *

><p><strong>Ten years in the future…<strong>

A woman with long, dark hair and pale skin dressed in an ice blue shirt, a white skirt, and a black cropped jacket glares in the direction of the coffin marked with the Vongola's crest and an X. She sighs and closes her eyes. "Idiot… Why didn't you just let me take your place instead?" she asks. "Snow Guardian or not, I'm just a mercenary, no matter how you put it." She shakes her head and walks away quietly.


End file.
